Leskovice massacre

Massacre in Czechoslovakia

Leskovice massacre
Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
Location	Leskovice, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Date	5 May 1945 (79 years ago)
Deaths	25
Perpetrators	Waffen-SS led by Walter Hauck

The Leskovice massacre was the mass murder of twenty-five Czech civilians in May 1945 by Waffen-SS troops on the orders of Nazi officer Walter Hauck inside the village of Leskovice during the World War II.

Incident

On 5 May 1945, Czech partisans in Pelhřimov took refuge in a local forest after they fought a battle with the Germans. Once the Germans had left, they tried to sneak back into town, only for the Schutzstaffel at the lead of Walter Hauck to return at 4:00 AM.^[1]

The Nazis surrounded the village, then set fire to the houses as they proceeded to go on a killing spree. German troops decapitated and tortured numerous civilians during the massacre.^[2]

According to the testimony of survivor Stanislav Pech:

"They began murdering civilians at the bottom of the village. One family - a husband, his wife and two daughters -- were tied up with wire while their home was set alight. They burned to death. Another person killed was 13-year-old Pepik Vaverka. Usually those who paid the highest price were those who said 'We didn't do anything'."^[1]

By the end of the killings, 25 inhabitants of Leskovice were murdered,^[3] and 31 houses burned to the ground. General consensus places the massacre's fault at the hands of Walter Hauck.^[4]^[5]

Aftermath

In 2005, an investigation of the massacre was launched by Czech authorities.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Czech police investigate "forgotten" atrocities by Nazis from final days of WW II". Radio Prague International. 2005-11-03. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
^ "Leskovické tragédie" (in Czech). 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014.
^ "Nachrichten". Radio Prague (in German). 3 November 2005. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014.
^ "La police tchèque sur la piste de trois anciens criminels nazis". Radio Prague International (in French). 2005-11-07. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
^ "Češi našli další tři nacistické zločince". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 2005-11-03. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
^ "Breakthrough in the investigation of WWII massacre in Velke Mezirici". Radio Prague International. 2006-03-13. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2021-12-26.