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Under a Cruel Star
Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941-1968 | Heda Kovály
7 posts | 5 read | 4 to read
The daughter of prosperous Jews, Heda Kovály found her world turned upside down with the German annexation of Czechoslovakia. Deported to Lodz Ghetto in 1941 and then to Auschwitz, where her parents were murdered, in 1944, Kovaly made a miraculous escape from a column of prisoners being marched to Bergen-Belsen in early 1945. On reuniting with her husband in Prague after the war, things started to look more hopeful. Rudolf Margolius became a deputy minister of foreign trade. But in 1952 he and 13 other government officials were tried and 11 of those hanged in one of the era's most notorious show trials. Heda Kovály and her four year old son were hounded by the state and shunned by society. In this powerful and moving memoir, Kovály describes her imprisonment by the Nazis during WWII and her persecution by the Communists in the 1950s -- a classic account of life under totalitarianism.
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ONH
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“Some people came back silent, and some talked incessantly as though talking about a thing would make it vanish. Actually, just the opposite is true: once things and thoughts are expressed and described they acquire a new reality, as though by giving them words we give them a part of ourselves. After that, they will not allow us to leave them behind.†🇨🇿💔

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ShannonOffDuty
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I love reading about Czechoslovakia. The history of this region amazes me. Kovály's memoir is one of so much turmoil. She survived a concentration camp all to have her life further degraded by the Soviet Union and its communist occupation. This area has known such little peace. What an amazing story.

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Anna40
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A remarkable book written by an amazing woman. It's moving, heartbreaking and at the same time inspiring. The strength and love of life under the hardships she had to endure are truly inspiring. I don't think I would have been able to survive what she did without hating mankind.

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Anna40

I was unable to take the advice of people who kept telling me that the only way back to life was to forget. I wanted to save everything, to cover up nothing, to keep things inside me the way they had been, and to live with them. I wanted to live because I was alive, not just because by some accident I was not dead.

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Anna40

It seemed to me that I was holding my fragile freedom cupped in my hands. ... my life was no longer broken in two. Suddenly there was continuity. I was no longer a camp inmate, a victim destined for destruction, but a human being, a woman with a past and a future.

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Anna40
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Alisnazzy
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This book is an important read right now. That being said, this is the challenge I've been waiting for my entire life. Back in 1993, my father was allowed to take the family on sabbatical with him to Prague. I was just 4 but it was the most wonderfully life-altering experience of my life. Prague is the most beautiful city and it will forever be my second home. I got to go back w/hubby in January & it's still as amazing as ever, w/the best beer

Cinfhen True, the beer is amazing and cheap!!! 7y
MyNamesParadise So gorgeous...omg take me with you!! 7y
See All 6 Comments
LauraBrook Yes, that beer is amazing! Plus, some of my favorite art is from there, purchased in the markets. And a garnet ring. And crystal vase. And... 7y
Gissy I have amazing photos from there! I definitely will read the book you are recommending in this section. Historically it was so hard for people from Prague to survive the terrible experiences during World War II and then Stalin! Once you know this fact then you will understand their culture! I'm nostalgic now 😢 7y
Gissy Is that Charles Bridge! El puente de Carlos. It is beautiful during the night and so colorful during the day full of locals and tourists. It was almost 3 years since I visited Prague after I ran in a marathon in Berlin! 7y
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