Encircled by the Parado River, Lidice is a small district of Rio Carlo. Formerly known as Santo Antônio do Capivari, in 1944 the district changed its name in honour of the Czech village that was decimated by the Nazis two years earlier as retaliation for the assassination of one of Hitler’s SS Generals. Hitler suspected that the villagers were harbouring the assassins, and he wanted to make an example of them by razing the village and executing or imprisoning its citizens. His overall intent was to erase the village from history. To ensure that the memory of the village remained alive, communities in the United States, Panama, and this district in Brazil changed their names to Lidice.
In the central square of
Lidice is a 16ft (5m) tall bronze monument of a phoenix representing the Czech
village’s rise from the ashes. It also “symbolises the friendship between the
people and peace among nations”. The nearby Cultural Centre exhibits various
Czech artefacts, artworks and traditional puppets.
On my way out of town, I stopped at a local bakery for a snack and discovered that, from its rear balcony, I could enjoy a bird's-eye view of Licide's verdant valley, with its gently curling river, and the mountainous region beyond.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment
It's so good to see you here . . .