List of massacres in the Czech Republic


The following lists include the incidents that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic in which the killing of more than five non-combatant people took place.

Massacres before the Hussite Wars (up until the year 1419)

The following is a list of massacres and antisemitic pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic before the year 1419:
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
Prague 1096 PogromJune 30, 1096PragueSeveral hundredPart of the massacres committed during the First Crusade; the victims were Jewish; the precise number of victims is unknown.
Moravia 1096 PogromsJuly 1096several towns in MoraviaUnknownPart of the massacres committed during the First Crusade; the victims were Jewish; the precise number of victims is unknown.
Prague 1161 Pogrom1161Prague8585 Jews were burned to death outside the city gate to Vysehrad after accusations of poisoning wells, water sources, and even the air within houses. Their ashes were thrown in the Moldau river and the city's Synagogue was destroyed.
Prague 1389 PogromApril 18, 1389PragueMore than 3,000The victims were Jewish. The massacre took place on Saturday before Easter in the absence of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia from the city. Most sources say more than 3,000 were killed ; Gaon Avigdor Karo, a poet and scholar of the kaballah, composed an elegy to commemorate the tragedy which was incorporated into the Selichot or communal prayers recited during the Jewish High Holidays and on Jewish fast days.

Massacres during the Hussite Wars (1419 to 1436)

The following massacres and antisemitic pogroms occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic during the Hussite Wars of 1419–1436. During these wars, many atrocities were committed by both Hussites and Catholics. Most Hussites were ethnic Czechs, but there were also German and Polish adherents of this movement. On the other side, most Catholics involved in this conflict were ethnic Germans, but Hungarian, Czech, and Polish Catholics were also killed during the fights and massacres. Jews who sided with the reformer Jan Hus were also victimized during this period. Many killings of the Hussite Wars took place outside the borders of today's Czech Republic; they are not included here.
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
Prague 1421 Pogrom1421PragueunknownThe Jewish quarter of Prague was looted and many Jews were killed. The pogrom seems to have taken place early in 1421, as sources relate that it happened soon after the battle of Vysehrad which ended on November 1, 1420.
Lipany 1434 Killing of Surrendered Hussite Soldiers1434, May 30Lipanyabout 700After the defeat of the radical Hussites or Taborites in the battle of Lipany, about 700 ordinary soldiers who surrendered after promises of renewed military service were burned to death in nearby barns. Almost all of the victims were ethnic Czechs.

Massacres between 1436 and 1900

The following is a list of massacres and pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic between the years 1436 and 1900:
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
Prague 1483 Pogrom1483PragueunknownThe victims were Jewish.
Massacre in BěchoviceJune 17, 1848Prague7 were killed.At least 50 were injured; this massacre was part of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire.

Massacres between 1900 and 1939

The following is a list of massacres and pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic during the 20th century, but before World War II:
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
Massacre in Kadaň 4 March 1919Kadaň1725 were killed ; part of the 4th of March general strike in World War I and its aftermath in the German provinces.
Massacre in Šternberk 4 March 1919Šternberk15Part of the 4th of March general strike in World War I and its aftermath in the German provinces.
Frývaldov strike 25 November 1931Dolní Lipová8At least 13 more were injured; part of the Great Depression strike movement.

Massacres during World War II

The following is a list of massacres and pogroms that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic in the time of Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia, until the end of World War II on May 8, 1945. The only exception is the biggest single-day mass murder of Czech citizens in history, which was committed at the Theresienstadt family camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in modern-day Poland, on March 8–9, 1944. There were also single-day mass murders of Czech citizens in the Nazi concentration camps outside the Czech lands, such as in Maly Trostenets, 28 August 1942 ; Riga, 28 August 1942 ; Mauthausen, 24 October 1942 ; Mauthausen, 10 April 1945 etc. If not stated otherwise, the victims were of Czech ethnicity.
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
17 November Raid against universities and colleges17 November 1939Prague9Nine student leaders were executed and about 1500 students were sent to concentration camps, where 35 were executed or died later; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
First Martial Law 28 September 1941 – 19 January 1942Prague247 killed outrightThe complete toll has been estimated at about 1500, including those executed and other deaths in concentration camps; the victims were of various ethnicities, mostly Czech Christians and Czech Jews; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Holocaust.
First Martial Law ; the victims were Czech Christians and Czech Jews; part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the Holocaust.
Massacre in Lidice10 June 1942Lidice181172 men were shot in Lidice, nine more men from Lidice shot in Prague. Complete toll at least 318, with 52 women and 85 children from Lidice being killed in concentration camps, older sources claim 340; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Ležáky24 June 1942Ležáky33 killed outrightThe complete toll has been estimated at about 44, including deaths in concentration camps; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Liquidation of the Theresienstadt concentration camp8–9 March 1944Auschwitz-Birkenau3,792The victims were Czech Jews; approximately 144,000 Jews, most of then Czech citizens, were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp; about a quarter of the inmates died in Theresienstadt. When the camp was liquidated, inmates were sent to Poland; although the Polish killings were committed outside the territory of the Czech Republic, this was the largest mass murder of Czech citizens in history; part of the Holocaust; see also the History of the Jews in Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Životice6 August 1944Životice36 killed outrightThe complete toll was 44, including deaths in concentration camps; the victims were 35 ethnic Poles, 8 Czechs and one German; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Transport of Death24 January 1945Brandýs nad Orlicí18The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.
Transport of Death13–14 April 1945Stod 241The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.
Massacre in Jablunkov13 April 1945Jablunkov12The victims were Polish prisoners murdered by the Gestapo; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Transport of Death15 April 1945Nýřanyabout 100The victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.
Killing in the Mikulov clay pit15 April 1945Mikulov21This was the mass murder of Hungarian Jewish prisoners working in a clay pit; part of the Holocaust.
Murder in Gästehaus17 April 1945Kyjov7 killed outrightThe complete death toll was 9, including two men subsequently shot on the street; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Ploština19 April 1945Ploština24 killed outrightThe complete death toll was 28, including subsequent executions; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Zákřov20 April 1945Zákřov19Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Court-martial in Medlánky21 April 1945Brno-Medlánky15Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Prlov23 April 1945Prlov19 killed outrightThe complete death toll was 23, including subsequent executions; part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre near Salaš29 April 1945Bunč21Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre near Suchý30 April 1945Suchý10Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in LetoviceMay ; the victims were of various ethnicities; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.
Massacre in Javoříčko5 May 1945Javoříčko38Part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Brandýs Tragedy5 May 1945Brandýs nad Orlicí15Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Death March of Volary6 May 1945Volary95–217All of the victims were women, most of them Hungarian Jews. When the march departed from Helmbrechts concentration camp in Germany on 13 April 1945, it comprised 1167 women, 577 of them Jewish and 590 non-Jewish, including 25 German Christian women, all of whom survived. The complete death toll seems to be at least 217 ; 59 of the victims were shot and 158 perished from exhaustion; part of the Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.
Massacre in Velké Meziříčí6 May 1945Velké Meziříčí58 killed outrightThe complete death toll was 60, including subsequent executions; part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Leskovice6 May 1945Leskovice18The complete death toll was 26, including 8 insurgents executed or killed in a fight on the previous day; the German SS commander responsible for the massacre of civilians was Walter Hauck; part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Prague, Úsobská street6 May 1945Prague51Part of the Prague uprising.
Massacre in Psáry6 May 1945Psáry13Part of the Prague uprising.
Massacre near Lednice7 May 1945A village near Lednice 22Both perpetrators and victims were German. 22 German soldiers were shot as alleged deserters without any trial; the killing was personally ordered by Marshal Ferdinand Schörner.
Kolín massacre7 May 1945Kolín16Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Třešť7 May 1945Třešť34Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Velké Popovice7 May 1945Velké Popovice29Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Lahovice7 May 1945Prague-Lahovice21Part of the Prague uprising.
Massacre in Masarykovo nádraží8 May 1945Prague53Part of the Prague uprising.
Massacre in Trhová Kamenice8 May 1945Trhová Kamenice13Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Malín tragedy8 May 1945Kutná Hora-Malín11Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Massacres after World War II up until Communist Takeover on February 25, 1948

The following is a list of massacres that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic between May 9, 1945 and February 25, 1948 :
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
Killing of Germans in Bartolomějská ulice8 May 1945Prague, Old Town99 Germans were slain in the Old Town of Prague, in the afternoon of May 8. Three of them were soldiers of the Wehrmacht; part of the aftermath of the Prague uprising.
Massacre of Germans in Bořislavka9 May 1945Prague-Bořislavka41Part of the aftermath of the Prague uprising; the killing of these Germans was ordered by an unidentified person wearing the uniform of a Soviet officer.
Burning of Lejčkov9 May 1945Dolní Hořice-Lejčkov24Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia; this massacre was committed by German troops after the German surrender.
Massacre in Běloves9 May 1945Náchod9Part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia; this massacre was committed by Waffen-SS troops one whole day after the German surrender came into force.
Liquidation of soldiers of the Vlasov armyafter May 9, 1945Pragueabout 200The victims were Russians. On the morning of May 9, 1945 Soviet Red Army troops conquered Prague. Very soon afterwards, about 200 members of the Nazi German collaborationist Russian Liberation Army or Vlasov Army, who had remained in the city, were shot by the Soviets as traitors to Russia. The complete death toll among the "Vlasovci" was much higher, with many of them being killed elsewhere.
Killings in Prague's Strahov StadiumMay/June 1945Prague-Strahovseveral hundredAfter May 8, 1945 several thousand Germans were interned in Prague's largest stadium for several weeks under extreme conditions. There were repeated executions without trial and high mortality due to a lack of food and shelter; according to the report of a German physician, a total of 25,000 people were arrested there. In the beginning most of the inmates were disarmed German soldiers, after the middle of May most were civilians. The stadium had an average occupancy of about 9,000 persons and several hundred were killed or perished. The stadium was used as a camp at least until June 19, 1945. Part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in LanškrounMay 17–21, 1945Lanškroun at least 51The victims were Germans; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia.
Massacre in Německý Šicndorf19 May 1945Dobronín 13–15 or moreThe victims were Germans, slain with hoes and shovels; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. The mass grave was examined by Czech police in 2010; they found at least 13 human bodies. Survivors claimed that there had been several dozen victims; in May 2011 Czech police found another mass grave nearby.
Hanke Lager Massacres27 May – 12 June 1945Ostrava 231The victims were German civilians from Ostrava and the surrounding area; most were killed by hanging, several were tortured to death. Massacres happened on 27 May, 28 May, 29 May, 30 May 1 June, 3 June, 4 June, 8 June, 9 June, 12 June. After that the guards were exchanged by Czech authorities and only 5 more people died until 3 July. All victims are known by full name, the event is well documented by Czech historians whose post-1990 findings confirm earlier Sudeten German information.
Killings in IvančiceMay / June 1945Ivančice 30–35The "Josef Hybeš" Czech partisan group, under the command of A. Řepka, killed 30 to 35 Germans and alleged Czech collaborators of Nazi Germany. 18 of them were executed after the trial of a "revolutionary people's court" on May 10, 1945; 10 names are documented by a German source, 17 names from Czech documents.
Brno Death Marchfrom May 30 to June 1945Brno and villages south of the cityestimated range from 647 to about 4,140According to Czech historians, 649 Germans were killed or perished on Czech soil and another estimated 1,050 died in Austria aa a consequences of the death march. Austrian researchers claimed 1,950 victims of the march itself, 2,000 victims in the Pohořelice camp and another 190 victims in surrounding villages. In total 4,140 German victims from Brno. plus 1,062 who died in Austria.
Executions in Nový Bor2 June 1945Nový Bor7The victims were Germans; the complete death toll was 8, including one German bystander killed during the executions; the families of the victims were forced to move behind nearby German borders; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
Massacres in Tocov2, 3 and 5 June 1945Tocov, during the night of June 2 to June 3, 6 were killed) and on June 5, 20 were shot. part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia; the event was examined in 1999 by German and Czech prosecutors, who confirmed the facts and identified the perpetrators.
Massacre in Postoloprty3–7 June 1945Postoloprty at least 730The victims were German men and boys; 822 men from Postoloprty were reported missing after June 7, 1945; in 1947 a total of 763 bodies were found in Postoloprty; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, but some of the mass graves were attributed to the earlier Nazi Death Marches of the Holocaust.
Massacre in Podbořany7 June 1945Podbořany 68The victims were male German civilians; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. The names of all of the victims and most of the perpetrators are known and so are the sites of two mass graves with 32 and 36 bodies, which were investigated by Czechoslovak authorities in 1947. The event is well documented by Czech and German authors, among them Ota Filip.
Massacre in Švédské ŠanceJune 18–19, 1945Přerov 265The victims were ethnic Germans from Slovakia; one Slovakian woman and her boy were spared, the German father was shot; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia.
Massacre at Buková hora30 June 1945Teplice nad Metují23The victims were Germans; women, children, and old men were marched to the border to be expelled; as Polish authorities refused thementry, the Germans were killed; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
Ústí massacre31 July 1945Ústí nad Labem 43–2800The victims were Germans; the official Czechoslovak investigation confirmed 43 people had been killed, but the actual number is estimated at least 100; part of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. Before 1990, Sudeten German organisations were claiming 600–2800 victims, or sometimes "thousands."

Massacres during the Time of Communist Rule (1948–1989)

The following is a list of massacres that occurred in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic between 1948 and 1989:
NameDateLocationDeathsNotes
Slánsky Trial3 December 1952Prague11Eleven leading members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were executed by hanging and three more were sentenced to life imprisonment after an openly antisemitic eight day show trial inspired by Stalin; 11 of the 14 defendants were of Jewish origin; all 14 defendants were rehabilitated between 1960 and 1963 after internal Czechoslovak investigations.
Jeseník tragedy27 February 1967Jeseník8Mentally ill Josef Svoboda killed his whole family with an ax and then committed suicide.
Fight for the Czech Radio station21 August 1968Prague-Vinohrady9 During the attempt of unarmed demonstrators to defend the Czech radio station building against Soviet invaders, 4 men were shot dead and 5 men were hit and killed by a Soviet military truck; the same day at the same place 4 men died due to the explosion of a Soviet tank which was set ablaze by demonstrators, and another 3 people died after the fire spread to surrounding buildings; in other parts of Prague, 2 people were shot dead and 2 people were crushed by Soviet tanks; part of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Occupation of Liberec21 August 1968Liberec9In the early hours of the Soviet invasion, 4 people were shot dead by Soviet troops in the main square and 24 were injured, 2 of whom died later; a few hours after this, a Soviet tank rammed the arcade at the square causing the immediate death of 2 people and injured 9 ; part of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Truck attack at the tram stop10 July 1973Prague8The truck-murderer Olga Hepnarová killed 3 people immediately and injured 17. of whom 5 died later.
Motorest Kadrnožka shooting1 June 1981Motorest Kadrnožka, Tachovksko4A soldier with service rifle shot and killed 4 motorest employees. He killed himself after police pursuit.
Ústav sociální péče v Měděnci fire1 November 1984Mědenice26Eva Kováčová, a patient, set fire to an institution for mentally and physically disabled women. Kováčová served 9 years in prison and remained mostly institutionalized for the rest of her life. She underwent sex change in the 90s and committed suicide in 2014 as René Lízna.
Christmas murders22 December 1986Předměřice nad Labem5A drunk father named Vladimír Lulek stabbed to death 4 children, his wife and wounded a neighbour. Executed in 1989.
Kladno massacre29 April 1989Kladno417 year old Jiří Popelka shot and killed 4 people with stolen guns. Part of a misguided attempt at escape into western Germany. Served 9 years in prison.

Massacres after 1989