History
The Nazis Invade Czechoslovakia
In 1938, Nazi Germany marched into the 'Sudetenland' in neighboring Czechoslovakia. England and France—Czechoslovakia's supposed allies—had hoped to appease Hitler and prevent war. Five months later, German tanks conquered the entire country. The Czech government, under Eduard Benes, resigned and set up a government-in-exile in London.
The Nazis wanted Czechoslovakia's coal and iron resources and its famous munitions factories. They dealt viciously with anyone who resisted. In 1941 Hitler put Reinhard Heydrich—‘the Hangman’—in charge, and an official ‘Reign of Terror’ began.
The Assassination of Heydrich
Benes' government-in-exile wanted to prove that the Czechs stood against the Nazis and decided to assassinate Heydrich at any cost. On May 27, 1942, three British trained Czech parachutists attacked Heydrich's car. He died a week later. Hitler felt the death of Heydrich "greater than the loss of a battle." He demanded swift and terrible punishment to crush any further resistance.
The Lidice Atrocity
On the morning of June 10th, 1942, Gestapo troops and German soldiers encircled the innocent village of Lidice. Men older than 16 were put in the cellar of a local farm. The Nazis then systematically lined up the men and shot them, murdering a total of 192. They blew up every building in the village, plowed the rubble and altered the flow of a local river so that the landscape would never look the same. German officials erased Lidice from their maps.
The Lidice women and children were sent by truck to a school gym in Kladno, a nearby town. They were not told what had happened to their husbands, fathers, or brothers, or that their village had been destroyed. After three days, the Nazis tore the children from the arms of their mothers. They sent the children to Lodz, Poland, where 9 who were sufficiently Aryan-looking were given to German families. The other 82, some too young to even walk, were gassed. Several babies born after the tragedy to Lidice women were also killed. A handful of other infants survived.
One hundred ninety six Lidice women were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany where they were forced to work in the fields or the sewing rooms. Three years later, the Nazis fearing approaching Russian troops, forced the women on a 'death march' out of the camp. In the chaos, the surviving women of Ravensbrück freed themselves.
After the War
Benes had returned from England a few months earlier. On June 10, 1945, he presided over a memorial service honoring Lidice. A group of women—Jerri's mother among them—made their way back to their homeland on the day of the ceremony. Here she was reunited with her daughter Eva, the first child to return. Committees were formed to try and locate any surviving children. Only another eight were ever found.
After the war, with international help, the village was rebuilt. The site of the original Lidice became a memorial. The regime in the former Czechoslovakia often presented the story as the triumph of communism over fascism. Since the 'velvet revolution,' and the fall of communism, the story is seen more as the triumph of ordinary people over the forces of hatred.