Adriena Morávková

* 1940

  • “When I was in school [employed at an elementary art school], mum wanted to see my elder sister in Sweden [Aglaia] and wanted me to accompany her, because she was not young anymore. I had some tough times at home for a period. My daughter and dad were allied against me; she was in puberty. I came to school and said: ‘I don’t have anyone there but the dog’; it was my poodle, Maura. They said: ‘No, no, we’re not letting you go. One of your sisters is in Sweden and the other in America; if you stay there, we’ll be in trouble.’ I said: ‘My daughter is here – I’m just not leaving her behind.’ But it was fruitless. That was before everything came crashing down.”

  • “I was supposed to take my daughter to hospital with adenoids, it was on 21 August exactly, and when I heard the radio, I said: ‘No, I’m not going anywhere, I’m scared. I have no idea of what can happen.’ So, we didn’t go. My sister [Aglaia] came over; she had been to a friend’s chalet near the town. They came here, sat with us, stayed for a few days discussing everything, and they eventually decided to leave. A theatre director [Alfréd Radok] was there [in Sweden], and he asked for her husband to come over. He was a set designer and Radok wanted to work with him because he liked his approach. They said, let’s go for a year and see what happens. Then the year passed by, they prolonged their stay, and eventually stayed for good because it had become pointless here by then.”

  • “It was okay; he still worked. He did mainly repair jobs until 1959 when they arrested him. He simply didn’t come back home one day; nobody told us anything. We knew nothing; he didn’t come home for two days. I don’t know how mum learned about it. They just looted the shop, took anything they could; I have a list of what was taken away. There was a rare clock that struck every fifteen minutes; I eventually saw it in court where the communists submitted it. Jewels – we saw some of them worn by certain communist women. Those were our family jewels; they took all that from our home. I was in Prague at the time, so I didn’t witness it; they browsed my diary, and I was rather humiliated when I learned about it later on. They took everything – the car and the house, and arrested dad.”

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Chrudim, 22.09.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 01:46:16
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
  • 2

    Chrudim, 15.10.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 01:00:28
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

They arrested dad and looted his jewellery shop. Communists wore our jewels

In a meadow outside Chrudim, summer of 1963
In a meadow outside Chrudim, summer of 1963
zdroj: archiv pamětnice

Adriena Morávková was born in Chrudim on 21 July 1940. She spent her childhood there with her siblings Aglaia, Ferdinand and Consuela, and the majority of her adult life. Her grandfather Emanuel Morávek, a major regional personality, was a jeweller, businessman, and an excellent cello player and bandleader. In addition to father’s jewellery shop, Adriena’s parents taught ballroom dancing and etiquette. Father Ferdinand Morávek joined the Auxiliary Technical Battalion (PTP) in Strašice in 1951 and a people’s court in Chrudim punished him for alleged speculation with gold in a fabricated trial in 1959. Both sisters – famous actresses – emigrated; the eldest Aglaia to Sweden in 1968 and the younger Consuela to the USA in 1979. Adriena Morávková completed economics high school and worked in several office jobs. She taught dancing for almost 50 years. She lived in Chrudim in 2022.