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Pandemonium
- A Journey to the New World"
is an incredible true story about the impact of the Communist takeover of
Czechoslovakia on three generations of a prominent Prague family.
Told from the perspective of Edita, a
physician’s daughter, scientist’s wife, and mother of two young children, the
story poignantly describes the insanity, frustration, and desperation
associated with living under a corrupt communist regime.
Many of the scenes are unforgettable;
they range from comic to heartrending to bittersweet.
There is the ingenious rearranging of the
family apartment to hide Chippendale furnishings and family affairs from the
jealous, conniving, all-seeing eyes of Ms. Jindrova on her many unannounced
visits to the apartment. Shrewdly
outwitting her, the family triumphs over the system in small but satisfying
ways.
There is the shocking visit with
Edita’s uncle, who lives together with his wife, physically and mentally
broken after having served 18 years in prison as punishment for his married
daughter’s emigration to England, for his unacceptable ideas, and for being in
the cabinet of the former non-communist government.
There are the devastating details about
how Edita’s father, a world-renown surgeon, is eventually denied a livelihood
because of his courage and refusal to conform to the demands of a world that
does not make sense to him.
Finally, there is the revelation that
even family members cannot be trusted. Unable
to understand how anyone could think of rebelling against the system—rather
than profiting from it—Edita’s sister joins the Communist party after the
1968 Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. From
that time onward, she and her husband cannot be confided in and Edita believes
it is too risky to let them know of her family’s plans for escape.
Copyright © by Apina Hrbek. All rights reserved.
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