About the origin of Children’s Day

In order to commemorate the Lidice massacre on June 10, 1942 and all the children who died in wars around the world, we oppose the killing and poisoning of children, and protect the rights of children.

In November 1949, the International Federation of Democratic Women held a board of directors meeting in Moscow. Representatives from China and other countries angrily exposed the crimes of imperialists and reactionaries in various countries who killed and poisoned children.

The meeting decided to take June 1st of each year as International Children’s Day. It is a festival established to protect children's rights to survival, health care, education and custody around the world, to improve children's lives, and to oppose child abuse and poisoning.

Extended information:

Introduction to the Lidice massacre

The Lidice massacre occurred on June 10, 1942 during World War II. After the guerrillas assassinated SS General Reinhard Heydrich, who was in charge of the Czech region, they were protected by the villagers of Lidice. The Nazi German army retaliated by burning all the houses in Lidice and massacring the entire village. 173 male villagers and women over the age of 15 were sent to concentration camps. Another 88 children were killed with poison gas by the German army in the concentration camps. About 340 people were killed in this massacre.

The impact of the Lidice massacre

The innocent villagers suffered tremendously. On June 4, 1942, the Gestapo surrounded the village and began a massive manhunt. On June 9, 1942, they gathered all 173 men over the age of 15 into the yard of the village chief Horak and killed them all the next day. Mothers and children in the village were forcibly separated and sent to concentration camps.

Only a few infant babies survived, but they were sent to German families, where they were adopted and educated in a Germanic way. After the war, when the women of Lidice returned to the village from different concentration camps, they discovered that their children had either been killed by the Nazis or had disappeared and could not be found. In the end, only 17 children who were sent away as infants were recovered. Most of these children could only speak German but not Czech.

The tragedy that happened in the small village of Lidice is almost a microcosm of all the oppressed nations during World War II. The Gestapo razed the entire village of Lidice to the ground in an attempt to wipe it from the face of the earth, arousing the anger of people all over the world.

On June 12, 1942, as soon as the news of the Lidice massacre spread, a small town in Illinois, USA, announced that it would be renamed Lidice. A month later, San Jerónimo near the Mexican capital was also renamed Lidice. In 2006, it had developed into a large city with a population of 2 million. ?

In some villages in Brazil, Venezuela, Israel, South Africa, and other places, squares, streets, and even girls’ names began to be called Lidice. In order to allow these freed Lidice women and children to return to their homes, volunteers from all over the world began to build a new village of Lidice next to the ruins in 1948.

Reference materials:

Baidu Encyclopedia - International Children's Day

Baidu Encyclopedia - Lidice Massacre