Memorial service held at spot where Ležáky stood before Nazi atrocity

A memorial service was held on Sunday at the spot where the village of Ležáky stood in east Bohemia before it was razed to the ground by the Nazis on June 24, 1942. Hundreds of people turned out to pay tribute to 52 inhabitants of Ležáky murdered following the assassination of the German governor of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich. The same fate had befallen the central Bohemian village of Lidice two weeks earlier. There are plans to invest around 50 million crowns in the next five years in the valley where Ležáky stood; local officials are hoping to attract school groups and are preparing educational programmes.