On 24 June 1942, the small town of Lezaky was attacked by German security forces and Czech collaborators for having hidden a resistance radio transmitter and commandos whom had aided in the assasination of Heydrich. 47 men, women, and children were taken. 18 women and 15 men were shot on the spot. Others were sent to concentration and death camps like Chelmno. They buildings of this stone-working town were then destroyed and razed by German labor front forces. After the war, two small girls and their grandfather survived to return.
So why have we heard of Lidice and not of Lezaky, which is also a Czech national monument? Several reasons are possible: the Soviet occupation forces memorializd Lidice and not Lezaky; Lidice is between Terezin and Prague, and so easier to access than Lezaky, which is some 140 kilometers east of Prague; it was a smaller event; or that some sources describe the village as being a Gypsy town. Some Roma and Sinti are currently being expelled from the UK, 5,000+ were deported from France not long ago, they have been barred from Holocaust remebrance activities at Auschwitz, and are still the objects of abuse in American slang. For whatever the reason, we must tell this story.