Page 95 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Time of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. Film images.

Pavel Štingl and Eduard Stehlík visited Łódź to docu-
ment the place where the Czech children were impris-
oned. Their photographs and film materials were
included in a multimedia exhibition Památník Lidice
(The Lidice Memorial). Those visits connected with the
Lidice project inspired the director to make a film about
the ghetto in Łódź.
The inhabitants of Lidice were accused of collabora-
tion in planning the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich,
Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, on May 27, 1942,
and killed in a retaliatory action. A few days after the as-
sassination, Heydrich died of wounds in the Bulovka
hospital in Prague. Since the long investigation brought
no results, the Nazis directed their retaliation towards
Lidice, which according to one of the traces (later it
turned out to be false) was supposed to have a connec-
tion with the assassins.
The Nazis shot all 173 of the men and deported the
women to the concentration camp in Ravensbrück.
8 —
Information on that spectacular Their houses were set on fire and blown up; eventually
action of the Nazis aimed at literal the area was levelled and sprinkled with salt, so that no
eradication of Lidice from the face plants could grow there . The settlement of Ležáky,
8
of the earth was widely spread
among the Allies and paradoxically where the Czech resistance movement had placed
contributed to the rebirth of the a transmitter used for communication with Great
town in social memory. Britain, was burned down two weeks later and all its
9 — adult inhabitants were killed.
Data after Pavel Slezák, Lidické Children from Lidice and Ležáky were brought to
a ležácké děti v Lodži Łódź in two transports – on June 13, 1942 (88 children)
– znovuobjevení budovy tábora 9
Gneisenaustraße 41, [in:] Osud and July 7, 1942 (18 children) . They were placed in
jménem Ležáky, Ronado, Velákov, a transitory camp (Durchsganglager II) at 41/43,
work in progress, chapter from Żeligowskiego Street (Gneisenauerstrasse) 10 for per-
the webpage: http://www.
dolezalova-lezaky.cz/ sons unfit for Germanization or work in the Reich. The
wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ Czech children were isolated from other prisoners and
Clanek_20140107.pdf (accessed housed in factory buildings. The living conditions in the
on May 28, 2014).
camp were as miserable as those in the camp for Polish
10 — children and youths at Przemysłowa Street (within the
There were two factories located ghetto boundaries). Seven children were selected by the
at that address. Many resources
incorrectly reproduce the image Rassenamt in Łódź to be transferred to a camp at 73,
of the factory located in the rear Sporna Street and Germanised; another six children
of the allotment (for instance in were sent to Lebensborn in Puszczykowo (Puschkau)
the article by Michał Trębacz).
The actual building was located near Poznań with the same purpose. After Germaniza-
closer to the road. (Pavel Slezák, tion they were adopted by Czech families.
Lidické a ležácké děti v Lodži, Information about the imprisonment of the Czech
op.c it.) Both buildings were
demolished in 2007 and replaced children spread very quickly in Łódź and their fate
by City Park apartment blocks. evoked general sympathy even in comparison with the

A Journey to the Cursed Land 93