[1] Sviták was not physically harmed in the catastrophe, and soon after, he was awarded the Bravery Medal but the sinking was a traumatic experience.

In 1939, Sviták became director of the Foja film studios, in the Prague district Radice, and took increasing responsibility for the administrative and organizational aspects of film-making.

Nazi Germany established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in the central part of the Czech Lands, and Slovakia became a nominally independent state.

Up to 1941, he directed 15 films, the most popular of which was (and still is) Přednosta Stanice, starring Vlasta Burian and Jaroslav Marvan.

[8] Sviták remained a close friend of the passionate anti-Nazi activist, reporter, and journalist František Kocourek.

Sviták also tried to warn the prominent Czech singer and actor Karel Hašler, who was later murdered in Nazi concentration camp Mauthausen.

While he used his office to mitigate some of the worst effects of the Nazi occupation within his circle, he worked and negotiated with Nazism's representatives in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

[13] He was detained there overnight but was released the following morning, only to fall into the hands of a "fanatical mob" bent on revenge.

People shouted that Sviták deserved death as a traitor and Nazi informer who had denounced Hašler and others.

Later, the Czech journalist Stanislav Motl attempted to gather the facts about Sviták's war activities and death in the book Mraky nad Barrandovem.