On 6 August 1944, the Germans shot 36 inhabitants of Životice (then a separate village, now part of Havířov) and the surrounding villages. The German action in Żywocice is the biggest crime committed by the Germans in Zaolzie during World War II. It was in retaliation for the killing of 2 Gestapo men on the night of 4-5 August and the wounding of the wife of commissar Rober from Bledovice in the inn in Żywocice by partisans from Jozef Kaminski's "Strzała" unit. The owner of the inn, Izydor Mokrosz, and one of the attacking partisans were also killed. The "Strzała" unit was active in Cieszyn Silesia and, among others, the inhabitants of Żywocice provided it with help and shelter. By order of the Cieszyn Gestapo, a list was drawn up of all the men from Żywocice and the surrounding area, from among whom those who had not signed the Volkslist were selected for execution. Those killed were mainly Poles (27 people), 8 Czechs and one holder of a category III volkslist (formerly of Polish nationality). Among those shot were 24 inhabitants of Żywocice, the rest came from the surrounding villages: Sucha Górna and Dolna, Blędowice Dolne and Cierlicek. Some of the victims found themselves in Żywocice by chance. The executions were carried out on the morning of 6 August 1944 in various places in Żywocice, on the border with Błędowice and in Upper Sucha. The local population was ordered to bury the executed in the Jewish cemetery in Orlová. In addition to the 36 executed, further inhabitants of Żywocice were arrested and sent to concentration camps. During the entire occupation, a total of 41 people were sent to concentration camps, of whom only 4 returned. A total of 73 people from Żywocice lost their lives as a result of German repression (about one in seven inhabitants of Żywocice, which had 484 inhabitants). This tally places Živočice second only to Lidice on the list of the greatest tragedies in the Czech area during World War II, which is why Živočice is called the "Silesian Lidice". Immediately after the end of the war, the victims were exhumed and laid to rest on 24 June 1945 in a common grave in the central part of the village. On the grave a magnificent monument was erected in 1949 with a statue of a weeping mother, chiseled by the well-known Polish sculptor František Swider from Karviná. The statue has the facial features of one of the widows, Maria Krainová, while the child is her two-month-old son Adolf. The inscription on the monument in Polish and Czech reads: "In memory of the victims of the cruel Nazi crime in Zyvocice of 6.08.1944 and the martyrs of the Nazi concentration camps" and the names of those murdered and deported to concentration camps. The memorial has the status of a monument. The ceremonial unveiling of the memorial took place on 25 September 1949. Sandstone stele with the names of the murdered engraved on them were placed on the execution sites.