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As the Orthodox leader in the new nation of Czechoslovakia, Bp. Gorazd laid the foundations of the Orthodox Church throughout Bohemia, Moravia, and into Slovakia. In Bohemia, he oversaw the building of eleven churches and two chapels. He also had published the essential books for the conduct of church service that were translated in the Czech language. He provided aid to those in Slovakia and Subcarpathian Russia which then were part of Czechoslovakia, and who wanted to return to their ancestral Orthodox faith. Thus, in the intra war period, Bp. Gorazd built the small Czech [[church]] that during World War II would show how firmly it was connected to the Czech nation.
As Hitler and his Nazis swept through Europe, a harsh rule descended on each nation. Czechoslovakia was no different as it suffered under the rule of Hitler’s heir apparent, Reichsprotector Reinhard Heydrich. After the [[May 27]], 1942 assassination attack on Heydrich’s car near the [[Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral (Prague, Czech Republic)|SS Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Cathedral]] in Prague, the Czech patriots took refuge in the [[crypt]] of the Cathedral before continuing their escape. They were aided in this by senior church laymen and about which Bp. Gorazd was informed. However, their presence was discovered by the Nazis, and on [[June 18]] the Nazis attacked their hiding place in the Cathedral, killing them. The Orthodox [[priest]]s, laymen, and Bp. Gorazd were arrested and killed by firing squads on [[September 4]], 1942.
In reprisal the Nazis forbid the church to operate in Bohemia and Moravia, the churches and chapels were closed, and a round up of Czechs was conducted, including the whole village of Lidice, whose inhabitants were either killed or sent off to forced labor camps. For the Orthodox the whole church fell under the Nazi persecutions and was decimated. A total of 256 Orthodox priests and lay people were executed, and church life came to a stop.
