American donor bequeathed CZK 4 million to Lidice Memorial

An American donor has bequeathed an unexpectedly large sum of money to the Lidice Memorial commemorating the victims of the Lidice massacre in 1942, the news site Novinky.cz reported. In his will, Donald R. Yadesky bequeathed $165,000, or roughly CZK 4 million, to the memorial. Yadesky, who lived in Lawrence Park Township, Pennsylvania was a long-time supporter and member of the Friends of History Society. He died in early January 2022 at the age of 85.

Tereza Stehlíková of the Lidice Memorial told Novinky that the donation would significantly help the fundraising campaign announced for the costly repair of the memorial. The administrators have so far raised around 1.5 million from small donors.

"We don't know his exact connection to Lidice, but we have been able to find out that he did this in memory of his beloved parents and out of respect for the men, women and children murdered in the Nazi punitive action for the assassination of Nazi protector Reinhard Heydrich," Stehlíková said.