Lidice Memorial

The Lidice Memorial is a commemorative complex located next to the village of Lidice in the Czech Republic, a short drive west of Prague. It marks one of the most devastating crimes of the Nazi occupation in Central Europe – the total destruction of a village and its people in June 1942. Today the site is a National Cultural Monument of the Czech Republic, combining a mass grave, a museum, and a deeply moving memorial to the murdered children of Lidice.

What happened at Lidice?

On 10 June 1942, German occupation forces surrounded the village of Lidice and razed it within hours. The attack was carried out as reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, killed weeks earlier in Prague by Czechoslovak resistance paratroopers. No evidence ever linked the villagers to the assassination, yet Lidice was chosen as a target for a demonstrative act of revenge.

Every adult man in the village was shot on the spot. The women were deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, and most of the children were sent to the Chełmno extermination camp, where they were killed in gas vans – only a small number, selected for "Germanization," survived under new identities in German families. The buildings were dynamited and the ground levelled, with even the cemetery removed, in an attempt to erase the village from the map entirely.

What does the memorial to the children of Lidice look like?

The site's most recognizable feature is a row of 82 bronze child figures, a monument dedicated to the children of Lidice murdered at Chełmno. It was created by Czech sculptor Marie Uchytilová, who worked on the project for nearly two decades. She completed the plaster models in 1989, shortly before her death, and the bronze casting was finished by her husband, sculptor Jiří V. Hampl, with the last figures installed in 2000. The children are shown life-sized, in everyday poses, making it one of the most affecting memorials to child victims of the Second World War in Europe.

What else can visitors see on the memorial grounds?

Beyond the children's monument, the site includes a museum displaying photographs, documents, and personal belongings of the victims, tracing the village's history before its destruction and the course of the massacre itself. The foundations of the original houses and the mass grave of the executed men have also been preserved. Another distinctive feature is the Rose Garden, created through the international "Lidice Shall Live" solidarity movement, in which people from around the world planted roses after the war as an act of remembrance and defiance against the crime.

Frequently asked questions

When did the Lidice massacre take place? On 10 June 1942, as reprisal by the German occupation authorities for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

Who created the memorial to the Lidice children? Sculptor Marie Uchytilová, who worked on the bronze figures for almost twenty years. After her death in 1989, the work was completed by her husband, Jiří V. Hampl.

How do you get to Lidice from Prague? By car, take the road toward Slaný/Kladno and follow signs to Lidice; the drive takes around half an hour. By public transport, take Metro line B to Zličín station, then bus line 324 to the "Lidice, Památník" stop, just a few minutes' walk from the memorial's entrance. It's worth checking the current timetable before setting off.

Is admission free, and what are the opening hours? The memorial grounds and the Rose Garden are generally open to the public free of charge, while the museum and the monument to the children require a paid ticket. The site is closed on certain public holidays (including 24–26 and 31 December, and 1 January) – it's best to check the official memorial website for current hours and ticket prices before visiting.