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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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Current AffairsVojna Memorial a chilling reminder of 1950s communist horrors
An icy gale and drizzling rain pound upon new grass and gravel near the
Vojna Memorial: located in the Pribram region of Central Bohemia Vojna was
a prison camp that first housed Nazi criminals, then opponents of
Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. Ironically, prisoners jailed there
included some of Czechoslovakia's finest, who had fought for their country
during the war, only to ultimately be branded as traitors and western
spies. Today, Vojna serves as a most chilling reminder of one of the
darkest chapters of Czechoslovak history. More
Current AffairsGovernment agrees compensation for political prisoners, including those from "normalisation" era
During the Communist era there were over two and a half million political
prisoners in Czechoslovakia. They were sent to both prisons and labour
camps, often - especially in the 1950s - in the most appalling conditions.
Fifteen years after the fall of Communism, the Czech government has finally
decided to pay compensation to former political prisoners. Furthermore, it
has reversed a previous decision and now wants to also compensate those
who were imprisoned in the post-1968 period known as
"normalization".
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Current AffairsDaughter of political prisoner speaks out about legacy of Stalinist terror
Thousands were jailed and hundreds were executed during the terror of
Stalinism in 1950s Czechoslovakia. But, what was it like to be a child
whose parents were jailed during those times? Czech American Jana Svehlova
knows just what it was like- her father was a political prisoner and she
herself has just written a Ph.D dissertation on the issue.
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Current AffairsPost Bellum project seeks to give Czechoslovak WW II veterans due respect
"Voices of Heroes", a unique oral history project, seeks to
honour the aging men and women who left occupied Czechoslovakia to serve
in foreign armies during teh Second World War. Brian Kenety reports.
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