Lidice: Emotion Speaks Louder Than Words

This past Friday, the students in my program and I had the opportunity to travel to Lidice. Lidice is a small village in the Czech Republic that was completely destroyed by German Nazi forces in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (a high-ranking Nazi official). On June 10, 1942 in Lidice, every man over the age of 15 was murdered on the spot, and women and children were sent to Nazi concentration camps where nearly all of them were killed. Even the bodies buried in the cemetery were dug up. Upon their departure, the Nazis burned the entire village to the ground as a final act of hatred. This event brought significant international attention to the atrocities being committed by the Nazi regime throughout Europe. 


During the first part of the trip, we toured the museum located on the grounds of the former village of Lidice. Although the museum had several artifacts from the village on display, what I found most compelling were the images. As I scanned the images on the wall, I saw families posing in front of their homes, children playing in the creek, women cooking together, and men at work as blacksmiths, carpenters, and butchers. The village of Lidice was just an ordinary Czech village prior to the Nazi massacre. Seeing these pictures led me to realize how truly arbitrary and sadistic this act of violence was. It is realizations like this one that often cause me to question my faith in humanity.


However, it is pertinent to remember that for every aggressor, there exists an innocent victim, and during the second part of our trip, we were given the unique opportunity to meet a rare survivor of the massacre. Jaroslava Skleničková, the woman that we met, was 16 at the time of the massacre, and was thus classified as an adult by the Nazis, although she was the youngest of the women of Lidice. Along with her mother and sister, she was sent to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp located in northern Germany. It was not until three years later when she was released from the camp that she would discover the devastation that had occurred in Lidice three years prior. She continues to live in the new village of Lidice located next to the site where the old village once stood. One of the most compelling moments during the question and answer session was when one of the students in my program asked why she had chosen to come back to Lidice after everything that she had experienced there. With tears in her eyes and an expression of pride on her face, she responded (English translation),"Because I will forever be proud to be Czech."


Due to the fact that she spoke no english, our questions for her, and her responses for us were translated. Watching her speak was so moving for me. It was perhaps the first time in my life that I realized that language is not always the most powerful means of communication. Rather, sentiment has no language barrier. It is a universal language in itself. Although her words were meaningful, her emotional expressions conveyed more than words ever could. It was a truly unforgettable experience.


Here are some pictures of Lidice:

The Lidice Children's Memorial

The Sign of the Lidice Museum

A view overlooking where the former Lidice once stood


Best Regards,

Hannah