Formal negotiations on the renouncement of the Munich Agreement began at the end of January 1942. At a luncheon given by Anthony Eden on January the 21st, Dr Beneš was asked to prepare a proposal addressing the consequences of the Munich Conference - which would be acceptable to the British Government.
Category: Post War Relations

Rise of the Communists 1947 – 1948Rise of the Communists 1947 – 1948
It was Thursday, the 10th of July, and the audience with Marshal Stalin had been arranged for 9.30am. Masaryk and Drtina met half an hour earlier in one of the rooms of the State residence put at their disposal, but Gottwald was late. They became impatient as the minutes passed, so

Coventry and Czech Presidents, Kings and QueensCoventry and Czech Presidents, Kings and Queens
It was announced in late 1943 that Coventry was to join the Lidice Shall Live movement. The decision was made at a meeting at the Council House on Wednesday the 1st of December, attended by representatives of the churches, Civil Defence force, social and other organisations.

REMEMBERING VÁCLAV – 1938 – 2021REMEMBERING VÁCLAV – 1938 – 2021
On Saturday 13th November 2021, the community of Lidice and all those who knew him, raised a final glass to Václav Zelenka. Lidice had suffered a great loss but Václav's impact on humanity will remain impressed on the beating heart of communities around the world for generations

The Role of UNRRA in Creating a New LidiceThe Role of UNRRA in Creating a New Lidice
UNRRA was a United States led initiative under the auspices of the United Nations. Set up in Washington D.C. on the 9th of November 1943 at the White House, it was signed off by Franklin D Roosevelt along with 44 signatories representing nations throughout the world (this was later extended to

Laying the Foundations of a New LidiceLaying the Foundations of a New Lidice
The Society for the Restoration of Lidice was set up to ensure the plans for Lidice became reality, and it had strong British connections through some of its members’ historical wartime links within the Czechoslovak Government-in-exile and the Lidice Shall Live campaign.

Commemorating Lidice in US Czechoslovak CommunitiesCommemorating Lidice in US Czechoslovak Communities
News of Lidice severely impacted the American Czechoslovak communities. Many locals could remember the village of Lidice from the days of their youth or as the home of some friend or relative. Residents decided they needed to take action to commemorate fellow citizens sacrificed “on the altar of freedom.”

Czechoslovak Support for WhitehavenCzechoslovak Support for Whitehaven
On August the 15th 1947, 104 miners lost their lives in a pit explosion at the William Pit coal mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria. On the 27th of September, Evžen Erban, Secretary General of the Czechoslovakian Central Council of Trade Unions, announced a proposal for a Czechoslovak supported miners’ recreation home

“We Will Renew the Village of Lidice”“We Will Renew the Village of Lidice”
Ostensibly, the situation immediately after the war seemed favourable for developing contacts between Britain and Czechoslovakia – there was complete cooperation between the freshly coalescing political establishment in Prague and the British Lidice Shall Live committee. In most cases, the mediator was the Czechoslovak Embassy in London. Contact between the Lidice

Alan Bush, the Workers’ Music Association & LidiceAlan Bush, the Workers’ Music Association & Lidice
Following Dr Barnett Stross and the British Lidice Shall Live delegation in their pilgrimage to Lidice in 1947 were eminent composer and conductor Alan Bush and his Workers’ Music Association (WMA) Singers. Bush had established the WMA in 1936, and they were visiting Czechoslovakia to participate in the First International Youth Festival