Sculpture of Lidice children to undergo restoration
The statue of 82 children in Lidice, which commemorates the destruction of the Central Bohemian village by the Nazis in 1942, is set to undergo a major restoration in the next five years. The Lidice Memorial has now presented what the renovation will involve and how the work will be carried out.
The memorial, dedicated to the 82 children murdered by the Nazis in the summer of 1942, is the work of academic sculptor Marie Uchytilová. She devoted two decades of her life to the sculpture, striving to portray each Lidice child who was killed after being deported to the Chełmno extermination camp.
The first 30 statues were installed in 1995, and the full memorial was completed five years later. Since then, however, it has never undergone a comprehensive renovation, and years of exposure to harsh weather conditions have taken their toll.
In March 2024, the Lidice Memorial launched a public fundraising campaign to finance the restoration. It has now unveiled how the restoration will proceed. The statues will be dismantled and transported to a studio, along with the granite base. At the same time, a new pedestal will be constructed on site.
According to restorer Hana Nováková, the conservation work itself will be both detailed and demanding.
“We’ll take precise measurements, assess the condition of the statues and their internal structure, clean them, and carefully unify the surface patina,” she says. “We want to preserve the natural green patina they’ve developed outdoors, but remove stains and uneven patches so the figures look consistent.”
A key part of the project, she adds, is a new pedestal design that will finally allow regular maintenance of the memorial.
“Right now, the statues stand so close together that you can’t reach between them, not even with a brush,” Nováková explains. “That makes proper conservation impossible. With the new design, the statues can be dismantled from below and maintained every few years, as they should be.”
Silvia Klánová, the daughter of sculptor Marie Uchytilová, who died before she could see the memorial completed, is also involved in the restoration project. .
“My mother wanted the sculpture to feel light,” Klánová says. “These are beautiful children, and she didn’t want the memorial to feel oppressive. I hope the restoration will be completed as quickly as possible, so the site is not left empty for long.”
The total cost of the renovation is estimated at between 13 and 15 million Czech crowns. More than five million has already been raised through the public collection announced last year, with additional funding expected from regional and state sources.
The restoration should be completed by 2030.
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