Monthly Archives: June 2018

Lidice

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Memorial plaque for Lidice at the Orthodox cathedral of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Prague. A Gestapo report suggested Lidice was the hiding place of the assassins, since several Czech army officers exiled in England were known to have come from there.

June 10, 1942 – In one of the most infamous single acts of World War II in Europe, all 172 men and boys over age 16 in the Czech village of Lidice were shot by Nazis in reprisal for the assassination of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich. The women were deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp where most died. Ninety young children were sent to the concentration camp at Gneisenau, with some later taken to Nazi orphanages if they were German looking. The village was then completely leveled until not a trace remained.

The Nazis destroyed the town by first setting the houses on fire and then razing them to the ground with plastic explosives. They did not stop at that. Instead, they proceeded to destroy the church and even the last resting place – the cemetery. In 1943 all that remained was an empty space. Until the end of the war, the site was marked by notices forbidding entry. The news of the destruction of Lidice spread rapidly around the world.

But the Nazi intention to wipe the little Czech village off the face of the Earth did not succeed. Several towns throughout the world took the name of Lidice in memory of the Czech village that met such a horrific fate. Also, many women born at that time were named Lidice. The once tranquil village Lidice continued to live in the minds of people all over the world and after the war the Czechoslovak government decided to build Lidice again.

You can read the story of the assassination and the reprisals here. A recent movie is an excellent depiction of the historic events.

Well-Dressed Wells

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A decorated well in Derbyshire celebrates the fresh well water that allowed communities to survive before modern plumbing.

Romans named the sixth month of the year for JUNO, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. But the Anglo-Saxons called it Sera Monath (“Dry Month”) which was as much a hope as a weather prediction. Juno, however, is associated with roses and weddings and that—together with graduations—is what most modern people associate with June.

If June was the Dry Month in Anglo-Saxon areas, then it was important in many places to celebrate the water that was available. People began to celebrate “well dressings” in June to honor the underground springs of fresh water that sustain rural communities and urban neighborhoods. These well dressings are mostly parties now but in ancient or medieval times before plumbing celebrated the survival of communities and neighborhoods thanks to the available water. (See photos of making well dressing decorations here.)

Wells were thought to be the homes of nixies and water sprites, most of whom were friendly but some might be mischeivous or downright nasty to people that came to draw water from the well. Children, however, that fell into the well and drowned were almost always said to have been stolen by the nixie or sprite in the well.