Strakonice Street bridge approach of the Lahovice Bridge

Lahovice

The advancing SS units of the Wallenstein battle group, moving from Zbraslav to Prague, were halted by the barricade defenders on the morning of 7 May 1945 near Lahovice Bridge, a strategic point for crossing the river.

Approximately 95 defenders, including local citizens, volunteers from neighbouring villages, and soldiers of the Vlasov Army, resisted the heavily armed unit of about 4,000 members of SS Wallenstein for several hours. The poorly armed defenders attempted to blast the bridge into the air but caused only minor damage due to an insufficient amount of explosives.

When conquering the barricades, the Nazis executed some of the civilians and forced the others to walk as “human shields” towards the next barricade in Velká Chuchle. In total, 41 inhabitants of Lahovice and 16 soldiers from the Vlasov Army were killed and buried in a mass grave on 10 May 1945. The massacre in Lahovice is part of the other atrocities carried out by the Nazis during the Prague Uprising. (Masaryk station, Prazacka, Úsobská street, The Massacre in Lahovice, Dejvice station)