The 82 life-size bronze children stand together on a small slope above the empty village site — a group of girls and boys in 1940s clothing looking out across the meadow. They commemorate the 82 Lidice children gassed by the Nazis at the Chełmno camp on 2 July 1942 after being assessed as racially unsuitable for German foster homes. Seventeen children with sufficiently 'Aryan' features were sent to German families and survived.
The sculpture, by Marie Uchytilová, is one of the most affecting war memorials in Europe — the children's faces are individual, attentive, and quiet, and you can walk among them. Many visitors bring flowers and small toys, which the caretakers leave undisturbed.