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Marie Moravcová

volunteer nurse · courier and provider of shelter

25 August 1898–17 June 1942

Marie Moravcová, known to the parachutists as ‘aunt’, turned her family’s Biskupcova Street apartment into an important Prague base for ANTHROPOID. She arranged accommodation, contacts and supplies, continuing to help after the men moved into the Resslova Street church. She took her own life during the Gestapo raid on 17 June 1942. Her husband Alois and son Vlastimil were later murdered in Mauthausen.

Experience in helping others

As a volunteer Red Cross nurse, she had already helped refugees from the borderlands after the Munich Agreement. Under occupation, her organizational experience and relationships with other women became practical assistance for people living underground.

The apartment and courier work

The Moravecs provided lodging, food and contacts. Marie obtained supplies and involved other women in helping. Vlastimil carried messages and assisted operational preparations; the family did much more than passively provide accommodation.

After the parachutists moved to the church, Marie brought food and other necessities. Petřek’s testimony names her and Liboslava Fafková among the women carrying supplies to the refuge.

17 June and its consequences

After Čurda’s denunciation, the Gestapo first struck the Moravec apartment. Marie took her own life during the arrests; Alois and Vlastimil were detained. Vlastimil’s later statement about the church was extracted by torture. Its account must not obscure the violence of the investigation.

Alois and Vlastimil were murdered in Mauthausen on 24 October. The family apartment shows how much of the operation rested on civilian households, and how the Gestapo moved from exposing them to finding the soldiers.

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Sources

  • Atentát: Operace Anthropoid 1941–1942 · Michal Burian, Aleš Knížek, Jiří Rajlich, Eduard Stehlík · VHÚ Praha

    Original citations and evidence accompany the underlying accepted claims; especially relevant are PDF/printed pages 48–65, 76–80 and 90–93.

    This link leads to information about the publication. Chrona does not host a scan of the book.

  • Nepostradatelná úloha domácích podporovatelů operace Anthropoid · Martin Jindra · Paměť a dějiny 2/2012 · ÚSTR

    PDF pages 1–6 (establishing the refuge, arrivals, Zelenka, the Moravec family and supplies), 10–15 (discovery, trial, executions and the Fafek family).