Description
Book SynopsisThis book is the story of an academic's escape from Czechoslovakia to England at the height of the Cold War. It is a poignant and timely reminder of the hardships and life without basic freedoms endured under Communism. It is also a documentary of the politics, sociology and history of those turbulent years in Europe as they influenced and restrained the life of academics under the yoke of Communism. Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a younger generation is already beginning to forget what made it imperative for so many individuals to leave their homes in Central Europe, in order to gain freedom and to demonstrate to the Communist authorities, the families and friends they left behind and their new hosts, just how important their escape to Liberty was.
Trade Review"This book describes the process that must be gone through -- suspicion, interrogation, perhaps incarceration -- in the liberation from refugee status to citizen..." -- The Cambridge Society.
Table of ContentsContents: Prague 1952 -- driven into a narrow corner -- looking back to war years -- the liberation 1945 -- the fatal February 1948 and its consequences; "Over the hills" to Austria -- Vienna -- first impressions and shocks -- screening in the British zone of Vienna; Through the Russian zone to the British -- quarantine camp -- the ghost of a Labour Office -- anxiety and relief; From the British zone to the American -- screening -- life in a DP camp; To Innsbruck (French zone) -- efforts to secure some existence -- frustrated attempts to move on -- hope for settling in Eire; Vacation grant in Cambridge, but uncertainty about the post in Eire; Happy marriage, but communist régime still imposes its power. Conclusion.
