Stoke-on-Trent Lidice & the Czech Centenary Mosaic

Aim

FAMILY - Production of a ceramic mosaic produced in Stoke-on-Trent to strengthen ties of friendship between the UK & the Czech Republic.

Lidice & Lidice Shall Live

The destruction of Lidice was a groundless reprisal for the assassination of Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, resulting from the Czech-British operation "Anthropoid". However, it sparked a chain reaction, emanating from The Potteries region of Britain, which grew into a truly international global campaign to see right prevail.

After the occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 many members of the Czechoslovak army went abroad. Among them were sergeant majors Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabcík who later completed special training in the UK and were dropped over the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to perform a special task - to assassinate Deputy Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich. They succeeded on 27th May 1942 - Heydrich died from injuries sustained in the attack on 4th June 1942. In retaliation, Adolf Hitler gave the order to exterminate the village of Lidice under the misapprehension that residents from the village had some involvement with the assassination.

 This decision brought about executions of 192 Lidice men above 15 years of age and 7 Lidice women. Another 196 women from Lidice were deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Children were taken through an internment camp at Lódz to the extermination camp at Chelmno, where the majority were gassed in specially converted vans. Only a handful was chosen for “Germanisation”. The seven youngest ones were placed in a “German children’s home” in Prague.

The whole village was then burnt down and razed to the ground: trees uprooted, the cemetery dug up, corpses violated and graves looted, the river rerouted, maps recalled. Even a narrow gauge railway was built to ship out the rubble so that no trace of the village's former existence would be found. By order of a K. H. Frank, responsible for repressions against Czech people, the extermination of Lidice was recorded by a film crew to be shown in cinemas. After the war the film became an appalling testimony to the brutality of Nazism.

Barnett Stross

Barnett Stross was born to a Jewish family in Pabianice, near Lódz, Poland on Christmas Day 1899. When he was three, his family moved to Leeds. Having graduated from Leeds University Medical School in 1925, Stross started his medical career as a GP for miners and pottery workers in North Staffordshire. At a time prior to the existence of a Welfare State in Britain, Stross gave medical care without charge to the poorer residents of Stoke-on-Trent.

Stross was deeply affected by the Lidice tragedy. As Councillor for Shelton he spoke to miners and their leaders, proposing the reconstruction of the village of Lidice to commemorate this crime against humanity forever. On Sunday 6th September, at a packed Victoria Hall, the "Lidice Shall Live" movement was launched in the presence of Czechoslovakian President in exile, Edvard Beneš who concluded:

 "This meeting has made it clear that Lidice has not died: it lives on in the hearts of the people of Stoke-on-Trent at least. From now on, Stoke-on-Trent will forever in the heart of every Czech citizen".

British Movietone footage of the launch of the Lidice Shall Live campaign

In the months that followed, from its base in Stoke-on-Trent and taking inspiration from Stross, fundraising campaigns were organised in working class communities across Great Britain in cities such as Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham, Aberdeen and Coventry; collecting donations from British miners and workers to fund the construction of a new Lidice. The campaign spread internationally with a fundraising campaign Lidice Lives launched in the USA.

Post war the decision of the restored Czechoslovakian government to renew the village of Lidice was made public at the first ceremonial commemoration on the 10th June 1945. 150 detached houses were to be built for the women survivors, with a community centre, museum, shopping centre and the building of "the people's committee". The movement "Lidice Shall Live" made an important creative impact and a significant financial contribution of approximately £1m, in today's money, to the renewal of Lidice. The community of Lidice continues to value the positive impact made by Barnett Stross and the workers of Stoke-on-Trent in ensuring their village was rebuilt.

British Pathé footage showing the formative stages of the reconstruction of Lidice

2017

...In 2017 Stoke-on-Trent received two highly symbolic gifts from the community of Lidice:

A "Messenger of Hope" in the form of a sapling pear tree. The Pear Tree of Lidice was overlooked by the Nazis during the destruction of the village and stood a silent witness to the horrors befalling its inhabitants. The “Messenger”, which is a graft taken from this very tree, grows outside The Victoria Hall today is a living symbol of the connection between the two communities and is emblematic of the victory of Hope over despair.

Lord Mayor Cllr Ross Irving and Lidice Lives' Cheryl Gerrard planting the Messenger of Hope outside the Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

The ‘Key to Lidice’ is one of only three in existence and was given to Cllr Ross Irving, the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, by the British Ambassador to the Czech Republic, during a civic visit to Lidice to mark the 75^th anniversary of the massacre in June 2017.

British ambassador to the Czech Republic Jan Thompson said:

“The key belongs properly in Stoke-on-Trent, where the story of unconditional solidarity and support for Lidice began in the 1940s. The key stands as a testament to the enduring bonds of friendship between the British and Czech people which continue to this day.”

Stoke-on-Trent's Lord Mayor Cllr Ross Irving holding the Key to Lidice

Ceramic Mosaic

October 28th 2018 marks the centenary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. 

In the spirit of the original Lidice Shall Live campaign LidiceLives is looking to make a statement of Anglo-Czech solidarity at this special time with the production of an impressive ceramic mosaic for installation in Lidice. 

Working with renowned artist Philip Hardaker fragments of china and earthenware retrieved from the heyday of mass pottery manufacture in Stoke-on-Trent will be fashioned into an artwork which strengthens ties between nations and emphasises the role Lidice plays in promoting global friendship and harmony...

We are seeking to raise £3,000 to fund the following:

a) The production of the Philip Hardaker ceramic mosaic  approximately 42" in diameter to be installed in Lidice

b) Shipping the mosaic by courier service from Stoke-on-Trent to the Czech Republic

c) A small plaque featuring sponsors names to be mounted alongside

d) Interpretation panel and plinth for the pear tree which grows outside the Victoria Hall

e) Leaflets and posters promoting the pear tree for distribution across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

Young people from Stoke-on-Trent and Buštehrad enjoying a day at the broadcasting studios of Staffordshire University

It is envisaged that the mosaic will be unveiled on the weekend of 27th/28th October at a grand event in Lidice in the presence of relevant dignitaries and Mr Hardaker.

Similarly sized Philip Hardaker ceramic mosaic sited in The Victoria Hall, Hanley entitled "Culture".

We think it's really important for all the communities involved that these links be developed and we hope that you do too. The Lidice Shall Live campaign and its role as a pioneering international humanitarian effort made it an endeavour whose legacy continues to disseminate a powerful message of peace around the world.  

Like the original campaign this is a grassroots driven project and we are asking for investment and contributions from individuals up to large organisations alike in order to ensure this international friendship project happens. 

But we need your help – Please donate what you can or go for one of the rewards. To find our more about this international friendship project contact us directly at [email protected]

Czech archives - footage associated with Lidice

The signing of an official twinning agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, between the respective Mayors of Lidice and Stoke-on-Trent, in Stoke, at the Kings Hall on the 6th September 2012.

Lord Mayor Cllr Terry Crowe and Mayor Veronika Kellerova signing the Memorandum of Understanding on 6th September 2012

Lidice today

*REWARDS FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Thanks to James Truswell for the use of his mini-documentary Lidice Lives

Thanks to the staff at Pamatnik Lidice and Lidice Obec for ongoing support.

Thanks for contributing to this Crowdfunder.

This project successfully funded on 4th July 2018