Soon the Grabmylers arrived with apologies for being late. (Ondrej looked around and joked that if he’d known he was still “early,” he would not have broken so many speed limits on the way to church!) Jitka and Petr came in next. A bit later František showed up, and we began the service about 10:00. Soon Jiří returned with his friend Michael, and a young lady (Katka, a friend of Haviland, I learned after the service) arrived. A little later still Jaroslav come in. So, after all was said and done (O me of little faith!), we had a nice group gathered. I preached the second message in the series about faith and anxiety—this time from Matthew 6:19-24, “Keeping Your Focus.”
After worship people visited for a long time. They are reluctant to speak with me, of course, because of the language barrier, but they were very chatty with one another. I did visit briefly with Katka. During the coffee time, Olga arrived with Farniks' dog Buddy, so I had to make arrangements with her for the hand-over. It was difficult to tear people way to begin Sunday school, but eventually we resumed our study of the covenant for 30 minutes or so.
I pray that the seed sown this morning will take root and bear fruit in several hearts. Katka said she would come back next Sunday—and bring her father. Pray it will be.
After we put everything away at the school, and the people had dispersed, I left with Ondrej and family to take Buddy back to Zbraslav before going on to their place of the afternoon and evening. Buddy seemed happy to be home again—until he discovered the Farniks were not there, and began to understand that he was stuck with me instead.
Eva had prepared a delicious meal, which we enjoyed together. Samuel fell asleep on the way home and (considerately, for Eva’s sake) napped through the meal. Ondrej had been bragging up Eva’s cooking, and his praise was well justified. After dinner we talked at length about some spiritual concerns, and I was glad to be able to minister pastorally to my friends.
Samuel woke up later in the afternoon, and after he ate his dinner, we set out to visit the village of Lidice, just a few kilometers from Grabmylers’ home.
This village was essentially wiped off the map by the occupying Nazis in reprisal for the assassination of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich in June 1942. Czech soldiers were parachuted in from Britain to kill Heydrich. Afterward they were trapped in a church in Prague and killed, but that was not enough. The Czechs must be taught a lesson. On the basis of a flimsy connection to a family from Lidice, the population of the village (about 500) was made an example. All the men were rounded up and shot immediately, the women and older children were deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where they were killed, and the younger children were farmed out to German families—they would be trained to become loyal citizens of the Reich. The town was then burned and bulldozed—including the 14th century church and the graveyard—until virtually no trace of it remained. The arrogant (if shortsighted) Germans even documented the whole affair on film (!!), which became evidence at the post-war Nüremberg trials.
Looking down from the old cemetery and uphill toward the memorial. The village once stood between.
After the war a new village was created adjacent to the old, and the old village has now become a memorial. As is so often the case with battlefields, so with Lidice, a scene of unspeakable horror has now become a place of serene quiet and beauty. Only the grey sky joined the monuments in proclaiming the tragedy.
One memorial is particularly eloquent: a sculpture in bronze by Marie Uchytilová of a group of 82 children, representing not only the children of Lidice who were sent to their death, but all of the children who became victims of World War II.
There has also been planted a beautiful rose garden with many varieties and colors of flowers, as part of the memorial. A place, said Ondrej, to which some couples now come to hold their marriage ceremonies—a reaffirmation of life. A sincere gesture, no doubt, but we agreed that real hope in the face of such murderous hatred can only come from him who has promised to fill the earth with his knowledge, and thus finally, definitively put an end to war (Isaiah 2:2–4; 11:6–9).
We returned to Grabmylers’ for another meal and some more conversation, and then Ondrej drove me back to Zbraslav late. A wonderful and meaningful day. Thanks be to God.
With Samuel and Ondrej at Lidice memorial.
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