***<\/h1>\nJune 10, 1942<\/span>
\nLidice, Czechoslovakia<\/span><\/h1>\n![\"Lidice_ChildrenSculptures\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Lidice_ChildrenSculptures.jpg?resize=259%2C194\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA bright and lovely June day in western Pennsylvania is everything we could imagine such a day would be. The birds are singing as they normally do on a June morning. The sun was up in the sky well Before 7 am:<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My dogs have had their morning walk. Bob and I have had a good breakfast together; we had toast and eggs and orange juice. Bob has gone into town to do some errands. I am at home in my office. I have some forms that need my attention today and I plan to get them all finished up and sent out today. In the kitchen, country music is playing on the radio. It\u2019s a normal June 10th day in every way.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the date of June 10th crossed my mind again. This time though, it was like a soft whisper from the distant past. Then, I began to remember something else. I remembered Lidice. I had visited Lidice once a year, on my summer travels in Europe. This village was so important, I believed, that I took my students there to stroll about the rolling landscape, walk through the fields of summer wild flowers that were blooming everywhere.<\/p>\n
When I wrote my book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, I included a short historical note about Lidice. And, after that, I included the poem I wrote, \u201cBook of Remembrance in Lidice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Below, I have put those two pieces from my book into this Blog post today, for you to read.<\/p>\n
The journals that I kept each summer \u00a0as I traveled \u00a0became the source of information I needed to write about Lidice. I often turned to my journals for material to write new poems and essays.<\/p>\n
\u00a0***<\/p>\n
![\"Lidice_Field\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Lidice_Field.jpg?resize=391%2C293\")
<\/a><\/p>\nfrom my book,<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n“Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage”\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\npages 9 \u2013 11<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/h4>\n\nHistorical Note:<\/span><\/h4>\nThe earliest records concerning the village of Lidice\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>found in the 13th century. The\u00a0village was dominated by St. Martin\u2019s church.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\nLidice, a \u00a0typical Czech village, \u00a0had the first school with central heating in Bohemia in the 1700\u2019s.<\/span><\/h4>\nSt Martin\u2019s church was destroyed during the Hussite wars and again in the Thirty Years\u2019 war. <\/span>
\nIt was rebuilt and decorated by Czech artists.<\/span><\/h4>\nOn June 9, 1942 the village of Lidice had 102 houses and 493 residents. The oldest woman was 88 years. The youngest infant was 2 weeks. There were 14 farms and a mill in the village.<\/span><\/h4>\nOn June 10, the shooting began:<\/span><\/h4>\n192 men shot dead<\/span>
\n7 women shot dead<\/span>
\n52 women martyred in the concentration camp<\/span>
\n88 children assassinated<\/span><\/h4>\nLidice was leveled to the ground.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n___________<\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nBook of Remembrance in Lidice<\/h4>\n
In the museum
\na Book of Remembrance
\nrecords the facts –
\nnames, dates, village<\/p>\n
A Plexiglas box
\nholds debris –
\nsand and dirt
\nhuman remains<\/p>\n
A basket of flowers on
\nan embroidered hanky
\nwith lace around the edges
\nhands clasped in friendship
\non a corner of the lace scallop.<\/p>\n
Envelopes
\nwith tea colored letters
\nfaded red stamps
\nwritten in pencil
\npostmarked.<\/p>\n
A wall for the men
\nA wall for women
\nwith photos and
\nnames
\npf the dead
\nposted<\/p>\n
Eighty-two bronze children stand
\nIn the field just off the path
\nIt\u2019s a secluded place
\nbeneath a solitary pine tree
\nwhere chicory frolics with the grass.<\/p>\n
I imagine it was such a lovely summer meadow
\nClover, Sweet Peas, Dandelion,
\nCrown Vetch, Queen Anne\u2019s Lace
\na large snail in a smooth spiral shell
\nbeneath the silent pine tree<\/p>\n
Zum Gedenhen an die millionen kinder, Die Dem 11. Weltkrieg zum opfer gefallen sind.<\/p>\n
In Memoriam \u2013 Jahre 1942
\nThe Children of Lidice<\/p>\n
\n\n\u2026all past events are more remote from our senses than the stars of the remotest galaxies, whose own light at least still reaches the <\/span>
\ntelescopes. But the moment just past is extinguished forever, save for the things made during it.<\/span><\/h5>\nGeorge Kubler<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nLidice, Czechoslovakia<\/span><\/h1>\n
A bright and lovely June day in western Pennsylvania is everything we could imagine such a day would be. The birds are singing as they normally do on a June morning. The sun was up in the sky well Before 7 am:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My dogs have had their morning walk. Bob and I have had a good breakfast together; we had toast and eggs and orange juice. Bob has gone into town to do some errands. I am at home in my office. I have some forms that need my attention today and I plan to get them all finished up and sent out today. In the kitchen, country music is playing on the radio. It\u2019s a normal June 10th day in every way.<\/p>\n Eventually, the date of June 10th crossed my mind again. This time though, it was like a soft whisper from the distant past. Then, I began to remember something else. I remembered Lidice. I had visited Lidice once a year, on my summer travels in Europe. This village was so important, I believed, that I took my students there to stroll about the rolling landscape, walk through the fields of summer wild flowers that were blooming everywhere.<\/p>\n When I wrote my book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, I included a short historical note about Lidice. And, after that, I included the poem I wrote, \u201cBook of Remembrance in Lidice.\u201d<\/p>\n Below, I have put those two pieces from my book into this Blog post today, for you to read.<\/p>\n The journals that I kept each summer \u00a0as I traveled \u00a0became the source of information I needed to write about Lidice. I often turned to my journals for material to write new poems and essays.<\/p>\n \u00a0***<\/p>\n In the museum A Plexiglas box A basket of flowers on Envelopes A wall for the men Eighty-two bronze children stand I imagine it was such a lovely summer meadow Zum Gedenhen an die millionen kinder, Die Dem 11. Weltkrieg zum opfer gefallen sind.<\/p>\n In Memoriam \u2013 Jahre 1942![\"Lidice_ChildrenSculptures\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Lidice_ChildrenSculptures.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nfrom my book,<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
“Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage”\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
pages 9 \u2013 11<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/h4>\n
\n
Historical Note:<\/span><\/h4>\n
The earliest records concerning the village of Lidice\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>found in the 13th century. The\u00a0village was dominated by St. Martin\u2019s church.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
Lidice, a \u00a0typical Czech village, \u00a0had the first school with central heating in Bohemia in the 1700\u2019s.<\/span><\/h4>\n
St Martin\u2019s church was destroyed during the Hussite wars and again in the Thirty Years\u2019 war. <\/span>
\nIt was rebuilt and decorated by Czech artists.<\/span><\/h4>\nOn June 9, 1942 the village of Lidice had 102 houses and 493 residents. The oldest woman was 88 years. The youngest infant was 2 weeks. There were 14 farms and a mill in the village.<\/span><\/h4>\n
On June 10, the shooting began:<\/span><\/h4>\n
192 men shot dead<\/span>
\n7 women shot dead<\/span>
\n52 women martyred in the concentration camp<\/span>
\n88 children assassinated<\/span><\/h4>\nLidice was leveled to the ground.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
___________<\/h4>\n
<\/h4>\n
Book of Remembrance in Lidice<\/h4>\n
\na Book of Remembrance
\nrecords the facts –
\nnames, dates, village<\/p>\n
\nholds debris –
\nsand and dirt
\nhuman remains<\/p>\n
\nan embroidered hanky
\nwith lace around the edges
\nhands clasped in friendship
\non a corner of the lace scallop.<\/p>\n
\nwith tea colored letters
\nfaded red stamps
\nwritten in pencil
\npostmarked.<\/p>\n
\nA wall for women
\nwith photos and
\nnames
\npf the dead
\nposted<\/p>\n
\nIn the field just off the path
\nIt\u2019s a secluded place
\nbeneath a solitary pine tree
\nwhere chicory frolics with the grass.<\/p>\n
\nClover, Sweet Peas, Dandelion,
\nCrown Vetch, Queen Anne\u2019s Lace
\na large snail in a smooth spiral shell
\nbeneath the silent pine tree<\/p>\n
\nThe Children of Lidice<\/p>\n
\n\n
\u2026all past events are more remote from our senses than the stars of the remotest galaxies, whose own light at least still reaches the <\/span>
\ntelescopes. But the moment just past is extinguished forever, save for the things made during it.<\/span><\/h5>\nGeorge Kubler<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n