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The memorial in Lidice

The memorial is situated in so-called village about 20km from Prague.

THE MEMORIAL LIDICE CONTAINS THESE OBJECTS

1. - THE BUILDINGS OF MUSEUM
2. - THE ROSE GARDEN
3. - THE COLONNADE
4. - THE GALLERY OF LIDICE
5. - THE EXIBITION HALL UNDER THE STANDS
6. - THE AREA OF REVERENCE

This year is the 70th anniversary of the tragic event, when Lidice were exterminated. The reverential memorial took the place at its exact date, 10th of June. This sad jubilee brings many accompanying actions for everyone.

The 10th of June 1942 was the fatal day when many innocent human lifes were ended, as the village Lidice was exterminated.

It all began at 27th of May 1942, when the attempt to Reinhard Heydrichs´ life was made. One of the citizens from Lidice was accused of this attack. Even though there was no valid proof, Germans decided to have their revenge at all the habitants of Lidice. The village contained 503 habitants. But at the night of 10th July the things were supposed to change. That day, 173 men were shot immediately without any compassion. All women and kids were closed at the gym of local high-school for three days and after that they were separated. Women were taken to the camp of concentration in Ravensbrück. Some kids were chosen and took to the re-education in German families or institutions and the others were poisoned by exhaust gasses in Chelmn nad Nerrem.

This ruining of 503 human lifes wasn´t enough for the Nazi´s. They have decided to destroy all the buildings in the village including the church. From 105 kids that were taken away from theirs families, only 17 survived.

According to this tragic historic event, the movie LIDICE was shot. This movie focus on fates of the habitants.

THE BUILDING OF THE MUSEUM

Exposition in the building of the museum:

„And the innocent were guilty“ – the multimedia exposition that shows the period of the Protectorate Czech and Moravia is enriched by fates of people living there in that time.

From 3rd September to 31st December, there is an exposition „Rebel armoured trains“ in the exposition hall In Memoriam in the building of museum. The aim of this exibition is the introduction to the Slovak national rebelion and the use of the armoured trains. All this is linked with the fates of people living during the WWII. The visitors can also see the fire-fighting sprayer from Lidice.

THE ROSE GARDEN

The first impulse for the foundation of the garden came in 1954 from the English society „Lidice will live“. The official opening of the garden was in 1955. The Great Britain donated a great sortiment of roses. Many others roses came here from Europe and from overseas countries such as China or Australia in 50s and 60s. Nowadays the rose garden contains 24 thousand rose bushes and there is about 213 different sorts of roses. The total area of the garden is 3,5 hectares. It is one of the biggest gardens in the Central Europe.

The opening hours are: March from 9am to 5pm, from April to October from 9am to 6pm, from November to February from 9am to 4pm. The full entrance fee is 80 CZK, reduced fee is 40 CZK and family entrance costs 140 CZK.

The rose garden is a place where the couples in-love often organise their weddings.

THE GALLERY OF LIDICE

The original building was built in 1957 and served as a community center until 2003 when it was transformed to the Gallery of Lidice. Before the building you can see the memorial  Carrara to Lidice from 1962. It shows a man with a gun hitting three other men, it is a symbol of fascism.

The Lidices´ collections contain the set of art from 20th and 21st century. The permanent exposition of  the Lidices´ collection of fine arts offers to visitors the masterpieces from the authors from czech post-war period (F. Foltýn. F. Gross, E. Kmentová or Rudolf Uher), but there are also masterpieces from foreign authors such as Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuyse, Wolf Vostela or Sigmark Polke. Every year the collection is enlarged by tens of works of art.

THE MEMORIAL

The author of the memorial is the sculptor prof. Marie Uchytilová. The monument is made from 82 bronze statues of child victims from the time of the extermination of Lidice. In 1989, after 20 years of work, prof. Uchytilová finished the final appearance of statues in plaster. Unfortunately, she died that same year and she never saw the finished statue. The masterpiece was finished by her husband, J. V. Hampl, in 2000. The memorial of the child victims of the war is situated at the Plain of Lidice.

THE EXIBITION HALL UNDER THE STANDS

One part of the parts of the memorial is the educational center, where are organised courses for seniors and teachers, or specials programs including the visit for the students of elementary and high-schools. The during of the visit is about 120 minutes.  

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