Browse Items (31 total)
- Tags: 1948 emigrant/refugee
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Majda Kallab Whitaker
Majda Kallab Whitaker was born in Prague in 1946 to her father, Jiří, and mother, Aloisie. She has two older sisters, Valeriana and Anna. Her father was in New York City at the time of her birth helping re-establish trade ties between Czechoslovakia…
Karel Ruml
Karel Ruml was born in Prague in 1928 and grew up in the nearby town of Nymburk. His father was a lawyer while his mother stayed at home, raising Karel and his younger sister, Eva. Throughout his childhood, Karel was an active member of the Sea…
Juraj Slavik
Juraj Slavik was born in Prague in October 1929, son of the then-minister of the interior, Juraj Slávik. In 1936, Juraj’s father was sent to head the Czechoslovak diplomatic mission in Poland, with whom relations were strained because of both…
Tags: 1948 emigrant/refugee, American citizenship, Battle of Britain, Child emigre, Communist coup, Czechoslovak resistance during WW II, Diplomatic service, Education, Family life, German, Michalek, national, Nazis, Occupation, Political prisoner, Politics, Prison, school, Translator/interpreter, World War II
John Palka
John Palka is the grandson of Milan Hodža, the prime minister of Czechoslovakia between 1935 and 1938. He was born in exile in Paris in 1939, without his father present. His father, Ján Pálka, joined the family some months later, after playing an…
Joan Zizek
Joan Zizek was born in 1941 in Pardubice, eastern Bohemia. Her parents, Jaroslav and Růžena, had grown up in the small village of Buček, but moved to Pardubice when her father was offered a job as an agricultural bookkeeper. While still a young girl,…
Jerry Rabas
Jerry Rabas was born in Pardubice, eastern Bohemia in 1945. In April 1948, Jerry’s father, Jaroslav (who was politically involved with the Agrarian Party), was warned by a friend that he was in danger of being arrested. The family, comprised of…
Jerry Jirak
Jerry Jirak was born in Prague. His parents owned a restaurant and tavern in the city’s Old Town, which the Jirak family lived above. Jerry’s father died when he was four, and his mother died 12 years later, leaving Jerry and his sister Alena to fend…
Jerri Zbiral
Jerri Zbiral was born in Prague in November 1948. Her mother, Anna, was a survivor of the Lidice tragedy in 1942, which saw one Bohemian village razed by Nazi troops in retaliation for the assassination of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich. The…
Geraldine Kraupner
Geraldine Kraupner was born in Roudnice nad Labem, a small town about 40 miles north of Prague. Her father was a chemist while her mother was a seamstress who worked with her grandmother. Geraldine says it was her intention to attend business school,…
Georgina Teyrovsky
Georgina Teyrovsky was born in Prague in 1924. Her father, Otakar, was a member of the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia during WWI and met Georgina’s mother, Katerina, at her home there while awaiting evacuation. They married quickly and both departed…