Lidice massacre victims remembered 84 years on

Hundreds of people gathered in the village of Lidice on Saturday to commemorate the 84th anniversary of one of the worst Nazi atrocities committed in the Czech lands during World War II. Participants, including several surviving Lidice children, laid flowers at the mass grave of the murdered men. Following the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, Nazi forces executed 173 Lidice men, deported the women to the Ravensbrück concentration camp and murdered most of the village’s children. In total, 340 Lidice residents lost their lives. Memorial director Eduard Stehlík said the tragedy remains a reminder that peace and freedom can never be taken for granted.