15 Facts About Marianne Golz

Marianne Golz-Goldlust was an Austrian-born opera singer and actress.

Marianne Golz maintained a successful career in eastern Europe during the early 1920s, later moving to Prague, Czechoslovakia, and becoming a theatre critic.

Marianne Golz stayed in Prague to help the Resistance, a dangerous task which she accomplished by hiding Jewish refugees, smuggling financial resources and information across borders, recruiting new resistance members, and holding resistance meetings at her home.

In 1988, Marianne Golz-Goldlust was recognized posthumously as Righteous Among the Nations.

Marianne Golz's mother was Czech, while her father was Polish.

Hans had informally adopted the surname 'Golz' to avoid social stigma surrounding traditionally Jewish-sounding names in Germany, so when Marianne married him she adopted the surname Golz-Goldlust.

The couple moved to Prague in 1934, and Marianne Golz-Goldlust put her skills to work as a theatre critic.

Marianne Golz helped Hans' mother and sister escape the country.

Marianne Golz began holding social gatherings at her house to find like-minded citizens, and she soon met local resistance organizer Ottokar Zapotecky, whose network helped smuggle refugees out of Prague.

Marianne Golz-Goldlust recruited new resistance members from Czechoslovakia and Austria, assisting Jewish refugees in their escape by putting them in touch with the network and moving financial resources across borders.

Marianne Golz hid refugees in her home, continued to hold resistance meetings, and arranged to smuggle important information about Prague conditions to the exiled Czech government over in England.

Marianne Golz-Goldlust confessed immediately, telling her interrogators that she was the only resistance member in the group, and her associates were consequently allowed to go free.

In May 1943, Marianne Golz-Goldlust was sentenced to death for her actions, and she was guillotined on 8 October 1943.

Marianne Golz's story was eventually featured in radio broadcasts, articles, and a play.

In June 1988, Marianne Golz-Goldlust was formally recognized posthumously by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for her work rescuing Jewish refugees.