Marie Kudeříková

Marie Kudeříková (also known as Maruška Kudeříková) (24 March 1921, Vnorovy, Czechoslovakia – 26 March 1943 Wrocław, Nazi Germany (today Poland)) was a student active in the Czech resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II. In 1941 she was arrested by Gestapo and at a subsequent trial she was sentenced to death. She was executed in 1943. While in prison, she wrote 32 letters, later published under the title "Zlomky života: listy z vězení" (Fragments of Life: Letters from Prison). Kudeříková was a sympathizer of communist ideas and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia later used her legacy as its propaganda tool. Her life story was featured in the film And Give My Love to the Swallows by the Czech director Jaromil Jireš.

Biography Kudeříková was born to a Catholic family in Vnorovy, South Moravia. Her father, Josef Kudeřík, was a member of the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia. During the difficult period of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia he actively participated in anti-German activities in south-eastern Moravia. At that time, his oldest daughter Marie began attending gymnasium in Strážnice. In mid-1941, during a wave of arrests, she found a shelter in the village of Lažánky. In autumn of the same year she left for Brno, where she continued her activities in the Youth Union.

Kudeříková was arrested by the Gestapo on 5 December 1941 in Brno. The interrogations took place in Brno and Prague and the trial was held on 16 November 1942 in Wrocław (then Breslau). notes that a poorly organized resistance action arranged by Kudeříková and her collaborators led to the imprisonment of many innocent persons in Nazi concentration camps.

Marie Kudeříková in fiction Zlomky života (Fragments of Life, 1961) - afterword by Mojmír Grygar Jiří Havel: Šestý den jara - verses František Omelka: Maruška - short story Lumír Kuchař: Zlomky života a smrti (Fragments of Life and Death) … a pozdravuji vlaštovky (And Give My Love to the Swallows, 1972) - film directed by Jaromil Jireš Památky na mě... - documentary, 2002, 28 min., directed by Jan Novák