Lidice

In May 1942, a high ranking Nazi was killed by two Czech resistance fighters. Hitler declared that any village harboring the resistance fighters be punished by executing all of the men and transporting all of the women to a concentation camp. The children who looked German were "Aryanized" and placed in SS families; the rest were sent to the extermination camp at Chelmno. In all, 340 people from Lidice died: 192 men killed; 60 women died in the camps; and 88 children were gassed. Lidice was chosen arbitrarily. It could have been any town. Click here for more details.
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The few who returned formed a new settlement overlooking the site of the destroyed village. There is a peaceful memorial and museum there. Of the original village, all that remains is the outline of the village church.
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Lidice is a place for contemplation, not picture taking. If you'd like to see more, there are photos that I took during a 2001 visit in my Fotki album.

And so ends the tale of our trip to the Czech Republic in 2009. We hope we can return again in the near future to spend more time with our new relatives and learn more about this beautiful country.