Six years passed since the tragic nig'ht of june 9 th, when the furious storm of human bestiality destroyed the little czech village Lidice.
 
    This serie of pictures is not meant as another document of the time when the Germans ruled our eountry. It is a document af the village which name should have been erased from the map and from the memory of the czech people but otherwise became a symbol of heroism.
 
    Some pictures were taken by aznateurs, some were made under difficult circumstances and the photograph's life was often in danger. We are grateful to all who lent this pictures for publication.
 
    We were neighbours of Lidice. We remember the church in baroc-style in the centre of the village surrounded by the peasants homes and  the school with the rectory.  We remember the  little houses of the coalminers and steel-workers. Lidice looked like many other czech villages, but its life was quite different. The farrners lived in rare understanding with the miners and shared their joys and troubles. Lidice fullfilled the desire of the coalworkers to have an own roof over the head and own piece of land. Therefore the local patriotism was quite remarkable. The village of Lidice had the most ancient church in the district. After the battle on "Bílá Hora"  in the 17 thcentury the Lidice incumbency had five branches.