“Women from remote Lidice, widows from concentration camps who know not where their children are, our home is your home, too. We shall never forget you.”
Category: International Commemorations
Commemorating the Lidice atrocity around the world.
The Spirit of Lidice – Commemorations in US Communities 1942 –
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.”
US Lidice Mocks Hitler’s Cruel Command at Stern Park Gardens – July 1942
Merely two weeks following the disaster which befell the citizens of Lidice, the Chicago Sun magazine had an idea. It approached the Czechoslovak community living in a federal housing project on the outskirts of Joliet. Officials of the estate agreed to change its name to “Lidice” so that Adolf Hitler’s announced intent of erasing the community off the map would not come to pass.
Lidice – A Name Forever Associated with Peace and Reconciliation 1942 –
If there is an instance of a catalyst for the trend of christening baby girls “Lidice” it would be José D’Elía (21 June 1916–29 January 2007). The high-profile Uruguayan labour leader, trade unionist, and politician worked as a shop employee at first before joining the trade union movement. By 1945, he was taking part in the establishment of the Worldwide Labour Union Federation.
Commemorating Lidice in Callao, Lima Peru – June 1943 –
Callao, a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean, just outside the capital Lima, paid tribute to the memory of Lidice by renaming one of its civic squares and unveiling a memorial in commemoration of the Czech village on the 20th of June 1943.
The Key to Lidice – A Celebration of Friendship Between Nations – 2017
On Saturday, May 27th, 2017, the Mayor of Lidice, Veronika Kellerová, presented three keys in a special ceremony: one to Czech President Miloš Zeman, the second to Jan Thompson, British Ambassador to Czechia, and a third to US Charge D’affaires, Kelly Adams-Smith.