Lidice by V. Zizka - 1943

Hutchinson & Co (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1943. First Edition. Softcover. Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. Twelve hours after Hitler had attended the funeral in Berlin of the "butcher" Heydrich, Nazi artillery rattled through the little Czech village of Lidice. It was near the mining town of Kladno and had its links with the greater world of industry and commerce. Half its menfolk were tillers of the soil, but the other half were skilled miners and artisans. Rightly or wrongly, the Nazis believed that the villagers of Lidice knew something about the movements of the two young men who attacked and mortally wounded Heydrich as he wes, driving through a working-class suburb of Prague. That was the excuse for the terrible crime committed on the night of June 10th, 1942. Men, women and children were dragged from their beds. No one was left behind - not even the bedridden. The men were lined up - Stemberger (the village cure). Selfender (the village character and eccentric), Otomansky (the schoolmaster), the aged verger, the farm labourer, artisan and student - and shot in front of the women and children of the village. None were spared. The children were then torn from the sorrowing women and sent to some loveless reformatory in Nazi Germany, where they are being taught to despise their parentage and Czech race. So at least the Nazis tell us. But we have only their worthless word for it that the younger generation of villagers were allowed to live through the night of plunder, destruction and carnage. The tale is told movingly and with full authority by a Czech writer who played a leading part in the underground movement of resistance against the Nazi overlords of Bohemia and Moravia. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. 84 pages. Slight wear to spine edges;. Black titles spine. illustrated by b/w. photo's.. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 250 grams. Category: Military & Warfare; War History; Second World War; War Crimes; Czechoslovakia; 1940s; History. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 2918. . This book is very light, and may be shipped for less than the standard book cost quoted at this site..