[1] In 1964, Marica and Jan Vilcek were granted permission to visit friends in Vienna and made the decision to defect from communist Czechoslovakia.
With two suitcases of belongings, they drove to Vienna, Austria, and then on to Frankfurt in West Germany to apply for refugee status and to pursue visas and careers in the United States.
[6] In 2005, Marica and Jan Vilcek were named Humanitarians of the Year by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America,[7] and in 2011 they were honored with the Outstanding New Yorker award given by the Center for an Urban Future in New York City.
[8] In 2012, Marica received the Stephen K. Fischel Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Immigration Council in Washington, DC,[9] and accepted it on behalf of the Vilcek Foundation.
[10] In 2021, the New York University Institute of Fine Arts renamed the Great Hall of the James B. Duke House in Vilcek's honor.