The title of Righteous Among the Nations was awarded to Alena Hájková in 1991 for her efforts to save Jewish lives during the Second World War. A seamstress who became a historian, she utilized her position within a Communist resistance group to provide false identities and resources to those targeted by the Holocaust.
Resistance Activities
Born in 1924 in the Vršovice district of Prague, Hájková began working as a seamstress at age 14. This occupation led her to Hashomer Hatzair, a leftist circle where she met Jany Lebovič. In 1943, she joined the resistance group Přehledy. Hájková smuggled food into the Terezín ghetto and organized documentation for individuals fleeing to illegality. Her resistance work resulted in her arrest in March 1944. She was moved to the Theresienstadt Small Fortress and later to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Between 1944 and 1945, she performed forced labor at Hasag, an armaments firm operating satellite camps of Buchenwald. She escaped during a death march in Zwickau in April 1945.
Postwar Career and Scholarship
After the war, Hájková enrolled at the University of Political and Social Affairs in 1945. She married Miloš Hájek, a colleague from her resistance days, with whom she had two sons. She later studied history at Charles University in Prague, earning her PhD in 1960. Her professional life included a lectureship at ČVUT and a position at the Czechoslovak committee for the history of antifascist resistance. During the period of normalization, she served as a specialist in the defense ministry, processing documents under law 255/1946 to assist former resistance members.
Academic Contributions
Hájková maintained a research focus on Communist resistance and the Holocaust throughout her career. Her published works include books such as 2245 dní odporu and Prague v komunistickém odboji. She collaborated with Miroslav Kárný on research related to the Protectorate and the Terezín Memorial. In 1995, she coedited a critical edition of Julius Fučík’s Notes from the Gallows. She remained active in historical research until her 80s and passed away in Prague in 2012.
Fast facts
- Born: 1924, Prague
- Died: 2012, Prague
- Citizenship: Czechoslovakia
- Occupations: Historian, seamstress
- Award: Righteous Among the Nations (1991)
- PhD: Charles University (1960)
Questions readers ask
What was Alena Hájková’s primary research field?
She specialized in leftist and Communist resistance movements during the Second World War.
Where are the papers of Alena Hájková held?
Her personal papers are archived at the Czech National Archive.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1991
- Worked as historian and seamstress
