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SpecialJoyce Pritchard: visit to ancestral Czech villages in Romania "the trip of a lifetime"
In today's special programme we meet Joyce Pritchard, an American woman who
recently went back to her roots, when she visited the isolated Czech
villages in Romania from which her great-grandparents emigrated a century
ago. She and 14 other Americans of Czech-Romanian descent met long-lost
relatives and experienced old Czech customs in a region somewhat left
behind by the modern world. It was, says Joyce Pritchard, the trip of a
lifetime.
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Current AffairsCzech community in Texas raises money for hurricane-stricken areas
The devastating effects of Hurrican Katrina continue to make headlines
worldwide as the full scope of the disaster is revealed. The Czech
government is sending 25 million crowns (around a million dollars) in
humanitarian aid to parts of the United States affected by what is being
called one of the country's worst natural disasters of all time.
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Current AffairsAwards presented for promotion of good name of Czech Republic around world
Gratias Agit is the name of an award presented by the Czech foreign
ministry to honour those who have promoted the good name of the Czech
Republic around the world. Among the individuals and organizations made
laureates at this year's ceremony on Thursday: the industrialist Tomas
Bata and Viktor Fischl, a poet who was a close associate of Jan Masaryk,
Foreign Minister in the Czechoslovak government in exile during World War
II.
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Czechs TodayOta Ulc: from morose nihilism to a New York professorship
In the 1950s Ota Ulc was a young, recently qualified judge. It was a time
when Czechoslovakia was under hard line Stalinist rule and he soon
realized the huge ethical compromises that such a career involved. He took
the risk of an adventurous escape via East Germany. In exile in the United
States, he became a highly respected academic, a political scientist at
the State University of New York in Binghamton, and Professor Ulc has
written many books in both Czech and English. His special interest is in
the complex interactions between cultures worldwide, and he has also done
fascinating work in mapping the life of Czech communities around the
world. Here he talks to Radio Prague's David Vaughan.
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One on OneLadislav Koran - an athlete whose spirit remained unbroken after ten years in a Stalinist labour camp
Ladislav Koran is a Czech American whose life story is almost beyond
belief. As a young man he was an accomplished athlete and friend of the
greatest Czech runner of all time Emil Zatopek. He was still in his mid
twenties when the communists came to power and, like so many bright and
energetic young Czechs, he found himself on the wrong side of the new
regime. It was not long before he was arrested, and he went through ten
years of hell in a Stalinist labour camp. But even this did not break his
spirit and energy. Today, in the United States, where he settled after
going into exile with the Soviet invasion of 1968, he is still an active
athlete, and one of the most respected members of the Czech émigré
community. Ladislav Koran talks to David Vaughan.
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PanoramaIn search of a Czech queen -- in Wilber, Nebraska
Traces of the earliest Czech-American urban centres are still evident
today, in street names recalling Czech patriots and historic towns, Sokol
community centres, St. Wenceslas churches, and the like. But it's in
America's "heartland" --especially in rural communities in
states like Nebraska and Texas-- where Czech traditions are perhaps best
preserved and most widely celebrated.
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Current AffairsTV Herald broadcasting weekly to Czech-American community
The name Herald TV comes from the newspaper Hlasatel, known in English as
the Czechoslovak Daily Herald. The paper was founded 1891 and is
apparently the oldest Czech daily in the world. John Honner worked at
Hlasatel before launching Herald TV last year. On the line from Chicago he
explains why.
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MailboxMailbox
This week: Czech exports to South Africa, railway museums in the Czech
Republic, Radio Prague email newsletter. Listeners quoted: Clifford
Riffel, South Africa; Edward Turnbull, England; Beverly Moss, United
States.
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MailboxMailbox
In this week's Mailbox: Report on Slovak nationalist politician Andrej
Hlinka on Insight Central Europe; village of Horni Benesov considers
giving honorary citizenship to US presidential candidate John Kerry; Radio
Prague's listeners' contests. Listeners quoted: David Eldridge, Sharon
Curtis, Nooreddin Ahmed.
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One on OneVladimir Bejval - from Czechoslovak child actor to Calfiornia cowboy
Vladimir Bejval is a man with an amazing CV. Child actor in Czechoslovakia,
cowboy in the United States, tool maker, bodyguard and bounty hunter - Mr
Bejval has been all of those things. As a teenager he appeared in the
famous 1955 film Cesta do praveku, called in English Journey to Prehistory
or Journey to the Beginning of Time. Almost half a century later, Vladimir
Bejval is still proud of the film.
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