On June 6, 2025, the duo of violinist Yu-Ming Ma and pianist Isaac Foreman presented works by Czech composers in memory of the Lidice massacre. The audience enjoyed a selection of songs based on two of the eternal themes of life and art: love and yearning. Jonathan Mak joined for Dvořák’s Sonatina in G Major.

On June 11, 1942, The New York Times delivered harrowing news: “Nazis Blot Out a Czech Village.” A German radio broadcast confirmed the destruction of Lidice, reporting that “all adult men were shot, women sent to concentration camps, and children brought to appropriate educational institutions.” The massacre was presented as retaliation for the villagers’ alleged involvement in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia.

In a war marked by countless brutalities, Lidice might have faded from memory. Instead, it inspired an international outpouring of grief and resistance from artists, writers, filmmakers, and workers.