Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Recording of the narrative poem, The Murder of Lidice, written by Edna St. Vincent Millay, read by Basil Rathbone, and Blanche Yurka, with an unidentified chorus. Millay (1923- 1950) was one of the most successful and honored poets in America. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent entry of the US into World War II on December 8, 1941, Millay, a dedicated pacifist, began writing propaganda for the Writers' War Board. She wrote the ballad, Murder of Lidice, in 1942 in response to the Nazi-led annihilation and destruction of the village of Lidice in German occupied Czechoslovakia on June 10, 1942. The attack was a retaliatory measure for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, by Czech resistance members. A hand grenade exploded under Heydrich's vehicle on May 27, 1942, and he died of his injuries on June 4. The German reprisal was brutal. More than 3000 Czech citizens were arrested, with over half killed, and the entire village of Lidice was decimated.
- Title
- Murder of Lidice (sound recording) : abridged / Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Date
-
publication/distribution:
after 1940-before 1949
- Geography
-
publication:
New York (N.Y.)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Laurie Zell
- Contributor
-
Author:
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Publisher: Columbia Masterworks
Performer: Basil Rathbone
Performer: Blanche Yurka
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Classification
-
Books and Published Materials
- Category
-
Recorded and printed music
- Object Type
-
Phonograph records (aat)
- Physical Description
- 3 sound discs : analog, 331/3 rpm ; 12 in.
set m-536
a. Record album cover; b. LP record, Part I; c. LP record, Part II; d. LP record, Part III
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The phonograph record set was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Laurie Zell.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-08-18 13:58:16
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn75269
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- By Appointment
- Request 21 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
- Request to See This Object
Contact Us
Also in Laurie Zell collection
The collection consists of two phonograph record sets featuring works created by American artists to protest the actions of Adolf Hitler and the threat of Nazi Germany.
Date: 1942
Phonograph record
Object
Sound recording of a humoruos song, Mussolini's Letter to Hitler and Hitler's reply, written and performed by Carson Robison with his orchestra in January 1942. It opens with the line: "Dear Adolf, I wrote you a letter." Robison (1890-1957) was a popular American country singer and songwriter, who made frequent radio appearances and toured throughout the country.
