TOWARDS THE DAWN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 137, 12 June 1942, Page 4

TOWARDS THE DAWN

The Czech people are paying a terrible price for the death of their so-called protector, Rheinhard Heydrich. The reign of terror which I followed the attack oh Heydricli wasj intensified at his death, and a new climax has been reached in the wiping out of the entire village of Lidice in the coal-mining centre of Kladno. j The entire niale population has been' shot, the women have bfieu sent to concentration camps, and the children to what are called educational centres, and all on the mere suspicion that the villagers were harbouring the men who brought Heydrich's "protect torate" to a premature end. No wonder is it thai the Czech Government in London, has informed the United Nations of its determination to seek full retribution when the Nazi domination of Europe is no more than an evil dream. .Underlying the grim story of the rape of the village of Lidice there is something much greater than the ruthless ' power of the Gestapo. There, is the unconquerable spirit of the Czech people, and, even more than that, there is the unconquerable spirit of all the peoples of ravaged Europe. Lidice will be avenged as surely as. night follows day. By their inspiring courage and by. their sublime confidence in the ultimate triumph of their cause, and freedom's cause, the people of enslaved Europe are surely paving the way for the dawning of a", day when tyranny will be overcome' and when men, women, and children of all lands will be free once more to live a full,life. The 340 men and women of Czechoslovakia who have paid .with their lives for the life of Heydrich will ask for no better monument to their memory than the restoration of freedom to their beloved homeland.