Vančura entered the strong anti-Hitler cultural movement and started to write the book Obrazy z dějin národa českého (Pictures of the History of the Bohemian Nation); its first parts were published and then became a bestseller and symbol of resistance. On 15 March 1939 the rest of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Hitler and a week later, on 22 May, Jiří Mahen committed suicide in a protest against Nazism.