Manley Honors Lidice Memorial with House Resolution, Thanks Mayor Soliman and Councilwoman Tina Oberlin

CREST HILL, Ill. – State Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, offered a House Resolution honoring Crest Hill’s memorial to the Village of Lidice in Czechoslovakia, which was destroyed by Adolf Hitler, in 1942. Rep. Manley read House Resolution 933 Monday at the Crest Hill City Council Meeting.

“The Lidice Memorial that the community of Crest Hill has so dedicatedly nurtured for eight decades is an international symbol of resistance to Nazi brutality,” Rep. Manley said. “Many generations of local volunteers have enhanced it, making certain that Lidice will never be forgotten.”

Beginning June 9, 1942, Hitler ordered the total annihilation of the Village of Lidice in retaliation of the death of a high-ranking Nazi officer. At the time, Hitler falsely claimed that residents of Lidice were linked to the death, when in fact, the officer was killed as the result of a top-secret British and Czechoslovakian operation.

On that evening, Nazi forces executed 173 men and boys by firing squad in groups of ten. Women and girls were shipped to Ravensbruck concentration camp, where they endured forced labor, medical experimentation and execution in gas chambers. Children were evaluated for potential “Germanization” under Nazi racial laws. Nine children were selected for “Germanization” through the Lebensborn Program. The rest were executed in gas chambers, or placed in orphanages, where few survived.

About 20 Lidice residents who were working away from home were captured in following days and executed.

The entire village was burned and plowed flat, while Hitler broadcast the total destruction as propaganda as to what would happen to anyone who resisted the Nazi rule.

Two days later, here in the U.S., a local developer of the Stern Park subdivision, (located north of Rayor Park,) Dominic Romano, became the first person to rename his development after Lidice, dedicating it on July 12, 1942. A year later, Romano rededicated it during a visit by exiled Czechoslovakian President Edvard Benes in May 1943.

The area known as Lidice, Illinois, was incorporated into the City of Crest Hill in 1960. Also, Crest Hill became a sister city to the Czechoslovakian village.

In 1995, vandals destroyed the monument, which received global attention. Through the generosity of the Czechoslovakian American Congress, and global donations, the original monument was replaced with a larger granite monument, plaza and park. Then, in unity with the Park and Peace and Friendship in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, the City of Crest Hill planted 82 rose bushes, in honor of the 82 innocent Lidice children whom Hitler killed.

“There is good reason why this jewel of Crest Hill has become a destination stop for visitors along the Historic Route 66, who come from around the world,” Rep. Manley said. I want to particularly thank Mayor Ray Soliman, and Council Member Tina Oberlin, along with countless other past mayors, community members and volunteers, who have dedicated their time to this memorial. Because of them, the memory of those children and people of Lidice will never die.”

The Lidice Memorial stands at Hosmer Lane and Prairie Avenue in Crest Hill. There will be a memorial celebration Sunday, June 7, at 11 a.m. commemorating the 84th anniversary of the Lidice Memorial, which is in conjunction with the Route 66’s 100th anniversary, and the USA’s 250th anniversary.