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Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. Because of the horrific things the man known as “Heydrich the Hangman” had done, the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile had decided they needed to get rid of him. The assassination didn’t go quite as planned when the assassin’s gun jammed, but a bomb thrown succeeded, albeit after a few days, caused Heydrich to contract sepsis, which ultimately lead to his death on June 4, 1942.

There was no evidence that the people of the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia had anything to do with his death, but that didn’t matter to Hitler. On June 10, 1942, Hitler sent his troops to obliterate the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia. They had apparently been chosen as the example to all others that killing Hitler’s men was not going to be tolerated. The troops went in and killed all the adult males and deported most of the surviving women and children to concentration camps. The retaliation against these innocent people for something they had no control over, was brutal!! The massacre was carried out just a day after the Nazis rounded up the residents of Lidice, which is located near Prague. During the raid, SS troops herded all the town’s male residents aged 16 years and older…a total of more than 170…to a local farm and gunned them all down. The Germans then shot seven women who tried to run, and deported the remaining women to Ravensbrück concentration camp, which was a women’s slave labor camp. At Ravensbrück about 50 prisoners died, and three were recorded as “disappeared.” Of some 105 children in the village, one was reported shot while trying to run away, and approximately 80 were reported murdered in Chelmno Killing Center, and a handful were reported murdered in German Lebensborn orphanages. A few of the orphans, who were deemed “racially pure” by Nazi standards, were dispersed throughout German territory to be renamed and raised as Germans. After the massacre, SS agents burned Lidice, blew up what was left with dynamite, and leveled the debris. The destruction was to be complete at all costs.

On child, Marie Supikova, a Lidice survivor, was just 9 during the massacre. She tells of the horrible train ride to Poland after her father was executed and her mother was sent to Ravensbrück. “We cried and cried because we were very scared, upset and confused,” Supikova told BBC in a 2012 interview. Because she looked “racially pure” she was spared. She was sent to a German family living in Poland and had her name changed to Ingeborg Schiller. “We all had blonde hair and blue eyes. We looked like the type that they could German-ize easily and raise as a good German girl or boy,” she said. Today, the Lidice Memorial honors the memory of the victims killed in the totally senseless annihilation of the village of Lidice.

Written by guest writer: Corrie Petersen

What a difference a year can make. Today is my mom, Caryn Schulenberg’s birthday and I’m the lucky one to write her post this year. Every day and every year things change. We never know what to expect next, but that’s ok because surprises are always fun.

This last year has been full of changes in our family. The true blessing is that my mom has been here to be a part of all the changes. She was able to help welcome two more great grandsons, courtesy of my two sons, Chris and Josh Petersen and their wives, Karen and Athena. She was able to take several vacations with my dad, Bob Schulenberg and most recently she was able to help my great aunt, Sandy Pattan in her time of need.

While I’m sure she didn’t plan to be a caregiver again, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Caregiving is in her heart, and she is very good at it, I might add. She was a caregiver for a very long time with her parents, Allen and Collene Spencer; my dad’s parents, Walt and Joann Schulenberg; and sister, Brenda Schulenberg. I have to wonder if choosing to help my Great Aunt Sandy was a blessing in disguise for both of them…a time of victory, healing, and reconnection.

Mom has been retired for five years now, and she is still so busy. She finds time to walk nine miles every day, write her daily blog posts, read her Bible and go to church, and spend time with her family. She and my dad go to the Black Hills over the Independance Day week to go hiking, and they take a trip to Thermopolis each year around the time of their anniversary. They also try to get to Washington every other year to visit my sister, Amy Royce, her husband Travis, and her kids, Shai and Caalab. Oh…and she bowls once a week with my dad. Boy, that makes me tired just thinking about it, but that’s her life and she wouldn’t want it to be any different.

Today is my mom’s birthday and I hope she has the best day ever. I love you to the moon and back, mom.

Yesterday, my newest little great grandson, Axel Ray Petersen was born. He is a sweet little boy who looks like his daddy, I’m told. I haven’t met him yet, and I can’t wait until I do. Axel was born at 12:02pm on September 18, 2023…exactly 9 days after his dad, Josh Petersen’s birthday; and exactly 9 days before his mom, Athena Petersen’s birthday. He weighs 8 pounds 1 ounce, and he is 19¾ inches long. He has dark hair and more of it than many babies. Axel comes into the world, the second child of his parents, Athena and Josh Petersen. He has a big brother, Justin Petersen, who doesn’t like it much when his brother cries. In fact, it breaks Justin’s heart to hear his precious brother cry, and so he cries too. Justin is not quite a year old yet, so he just doesn’t understand why his brother is sad.

Axel is a sweet baby boy who doesn’t cry much, and he is such a sweet blessing to his family. I can’t believe he is here already. It seems like just yesterday that we found out that Axel was coming, and now suddenly he is here. Nine months goes by so fast. Before we know it, we will be celebrating his first birthday and beyond. Time goes by so fast, and kids grow up so quickly. I am excited to find out who Axel will become as he grows, and excited to see the relationship he will have with his brother and any possible future siblings. Justin is a happy boy, and I’m sure that happiness will spread to his younger brother. There is no way to know the interests these brothers will have, but I know that they will have a wonderful life, and they will be best friends forever.

For little Axel, life is just beginning. The journey ahead has yet to be determined. The same applies to his “Irish Twin” brother, Justin. Irish Twins are siblings who were born less than a year apart. Axel and Justin’s grandmother, Corrie Petersen is also an Irish Twin. It’s a really cool thing to be. The older one doesn’t remember life without the younger one, and the younger one never lived life without the older one. Either way, they feel like they have always had each other, and they pretty much have. It is my hope that Justin and Axel will embrace that part of themselves and make it a special part of their lives. Happy day of your birth Axel Ray Petersen, and welcome to the world and our family. We love you so much already.

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