Norbert Čapek

Norbert Fabián Čapek (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃapɛk]; 3 June 1870 – 30 October 1942[1]) was the founder of the modern Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia.

[citation needed] His articles on topics ranging from psychology to politics attracted unfavorable attention from the German authorities, and in 1914, he and his wife, Marie, and their eight children fled to the United States.

In the United States, Norbert became editor of a Czech-language newspaper and served as pastor of the First Slovak Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

The new Unitarian congregation they formed in Prague, called the Liberal Religious Fellowship, grew rapidly and soon purchased a large building, dubbed "Unitaria", at the foot of Charles Bridge.

The minister wore no robe or vestments, and the congregation dispensed with elaborate rituals, singing of hymns, ornate decoration, and formal or prescribed prayers.

In 1939, Maja went to the US to raise funds for relief efforts in Czechoslovakia; she also served as minister in the North Unitarian Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts from 1940 to 1943.

He was charged with listening to foreign broadcasts (a capital crime) and, after being held in Pankrác Prison, was taken in 1942 to the Dachau concentration camp, where he was imprisoned in the "Priesterblock".