Lidice Shall Live - Part Two: The Path to Lidice, #3

By Alan Gerrard

The Path to Lidice is a series of ebooks that look into the relationships between Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, and the USA from the mid-1930s to the late 1960s. Roughly, this equates to the accession to supreme power in Germany of Adolf Hitler and ends with the fall of Alexander Dubček, the liberalizing President of Czechoslovakia in 1969.

 

The series examines international efforts to build a new Lidice from two main perspectives: the US-inspired Lidice Lives campaign, and its UK counterpart, the Lidice Shall Live movement. 

 

Often overlooked by historians, both are sometimes treated as a distant by-product of Operation Anthropoid - the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Save the general references, such as "Lidice was rebuilt with the help of British miners..." there has been a dearth of satisfactory material dealing with how the village of Lidice came to be rebuilt, following its destruction at the hands of the Nazis, amongst our bookshelves and in the download sections of libraries.

2022 marks the 80th Anniversary of both the Lidice Shall Live campaign and the Lidice Lives movement; so we thought we would lay things out for readers keen to acquire further insight into this unique facet of 1940s wartime, social history.  

 

The story starts in Volume 1, in Munich, and the signing of the agreement which seals the fate of the Czechoslovak nation. In London Chamberlain returns a hero but the euphoria soon corrodes as it soon transpires that Hitler's demands have not abated. Indeed, Nazi Germany was to occupy the whole of Bohemia and Moravia on the 15th March 1939. 

 

By September 1941 Recihprotektor Von Neurath is deemed to be "too soft" on the Czechs. To his replacement death is vapid and the Czechs are inferior. A more disturbing vision for the future one could not conjure...

 

Lidice Shall Live Part Two describes how the movement disseminated across the United Kingdom and traces trends in the campaign's momentum with the passage of the war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alan Gerrard
• Release date: Nov 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201807962

Book preview

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

LIDICE SHALL LIVE - PART TWO

First edition. November 12, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 Alan Gerrard.

Written by Alan Gerrard.

For John x

The Path to Lidice

Volume 3

Lidice Shall Live Part Two

Alan Gerrard

Published by Theartbay Gallery

2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published on behalf of Lidice Lives:

26 Christchurch Street

Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent

Staffordshire

ST4 3AD

© Alan Gerrard

Artwork – Steve Shaw

A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

THE DURHAM MINERS

LEAMINGTON SPA

LEAMING TOWN HALL MARCH 15TH 1942

THE POLKA DOT CAFÉ – NOVEMBER 1ST 1942

BEAUCHAMP HALL – MAY 17TH 1943

BIRMINGHAM

BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL – MAY 30TH 1943

DERBY

DERBY’S LIDICE WEEK

THE RALLY AT DARLEY PARK

BRISTOL

FOUR NATIONS RALLY - COLSTON HALL - 23RD OCTOBER 1943

COVENTRY

NOTTINGHAM

NOTTINGHAM’S LIDICE APPEAL

CREWE

FELTHAM

FELTHAM RALLY – JULY 11TH 1943

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE

BERMONDSEY

A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

A London Office of the Lidice Shall Live movement had already been established. It was administered largely by members of the Czechoslovak Government-in-exile, in partnership with the Stoke-on-Trent Lidice Shall Live committee. As well as his duties in North Staffordshire, Secretary Frank Hampl increasingly took on a national role. It was the London Office who would arrange for key Czechoslovak ministers and representatives as well as other Allied dignitaries to attend and speak at national events, mass rallies and inaugurations in support of the increasing number of regional Lidice Shall Live committees.

THE DURHAM MINERS

Since the first Lidice Shall Live was held other cities had adopted the movement. And by late 1942 most of Britain’s mining Federations were beginning to commit to support the cause, having received an official appeal from George Jones of the Midlands Miners’ Federation, stamped and syndicated through the national Federation’s network. It invited their members to follow North Staffordshire’s lead and for miners to pay a levy of half a crown (or 2s 6d) each towards the fund. Most symbolic would be the response from the Durham Miners Association – the largest trade union in England. A show of disinterest could have severe consequences for the appeal. However, with the spirited backing of the Association’s President, former collier and Methodist preacher, Jas Gilliland; and former Durham son, politician and President of the Mineworkers’ Federation of Great Britain, Will Lawther; the Durham Miners’ Association enthusiastically led the way for others to follow.

On October the 28th it was reported in the Sunderland Echo that miners’ lodges in the Durham coalfield had been unanimously recommended by the Executive of the Durham Miners’ Association to agree to a grant from the General Funds equal to 2s 6d per member for the Mineworkers’ Federation scheme to rebuild the Czech village of Lidice.

Dr Beneš, visited Durham on Sunday the 22nd November 1942, at the invitation of the Durham Miners' Association. On his way to Durham, the well-liked Dr Beneš made several stops, first calling at the Chester Moor and South Pelaw Aged Miners' Homes, where men straight from the pit had gathered to receive him. After meeting the occupants of the homes, the committee presented the President with a leather wallet. Beneš also visited Durham Cathedral, where the Dean, Dr C. A. Alington, acted as guide. Later the President called at the Town Hall, where he met the Mayor, Councillor F. A Howard, and the Town Clerk, Mr G. D. Rowland. Later still, Dr Beneš received the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law of the University of Durham at a special audience in one of the lecture rooms.

Harton Colliery Band marked the President's entry into the crowded Miners' Hall, with a fanfare followed by the Czech National Anthem, and Dr Beneš. Although reportedly an unemotional man, the Czech President-in-exile was visibly touched by the warmth of his welcome. The men of Durham had pledged themselves to help to build a new Lidice in Czecho-Slovakia after the war, and Will Lawther, who presided said, Nothing is more vital than coal for the guns, the tanks and the planes to avenge Lidice. Declaring that they had noted with horror the crime committed at Lidice, Lawther said: "We shall express that horror, that indignation in a practical manner. We shall do it in such a way that future generations will enter Lidice as a holy place consecrated by humble sons and daughters