If you know me, stop here, you know all this.
This isfor you, those many people who never read my book “Why Didn’t They Leave?”Maybe you should!
You can access it here.Now you probably think: “Thecheek, how dare she telling us what to read?” Well,maybe it will make you curious. I am avery curious woman, and being a family doctor was a perfect job for this, peopletell you things. I’m retired now.Whatis the book about?Family saga of a Czech Jewish family- 1938-2006.“Oh,not another Holocaust book!” you probably think. Holocaust only takesabout a third of the book, but of course, while those survivors are still amongus, it will never go away. So yep, maybe it is “another Holocaust book”.The main protagonist, Zuzana, like me, was born after the war, into communist Czechoslovakia.She had a very difficult mother (like I did). Loving, too,although you have to dig deep to find that love. I am not Zuzana; I wish I were. She is bolder than Iever was. Her mother is my mother, though, the only character in the book whois not fictitious. Are you curious yet? I hope so.Whenevermembers of my family thought about emigration and did not, it was a mistake.1938-that mistake cost many of them their life, 1948 when the communist came to power, 1968 when the Soviet Union crashed the Prague Spring, … I was determined not to make the same mistake. So, after trying to get the permission to goabroad for a short break, I managed to emigrate. Hmmmm. It was 1986 and only 3years after, the communist regime crumbled. Did I make a mistake? Should a book writtenabout me be called “Why didn’t she stay?”I lost my roots, and now I can just fly. I am a pork eating, Christmas celebrating Czech Jew living in England. Am I lost, not belonging anywhere?No,it makes me free. I don’t miss my roots.However, those refugees that are everywhere nowadays, are not as lucky as I was. Comingfrom a communist country, obtaining political asylum was simple. I didn’twant my children to be lied to in school like I was, I wanted them to be free.I was not free, living in a communist country, but nobody tried to kill me in Prague. I feel like wearing a big logo on a t-shirt:
BE KIND TO REFUGEES, NEXT TIME IT COULD BE YOU
But I only wear t shirts in the gym.So,what is my book about? Emigration, racism, antisemitism, living in a foreigncountry , and difficult mother daughter relationships, about love, and indifference, and dislike (hate might be too strong a word). It’s about Czechoslovakia, England, Caribbean. And yes, it is about people beingdifferent. But we shouldn’t forget that we are all the same species. We are all people, and the differences aresmall.
You can access it here.Now you probably think: “Thecheek, how dare she telling us what to read?” Well,maybe it will make you curious. I am avery curious woman, and being a family doctor was a perfect job for this, peopletell you things. I’m retired now.Whatis the book about?Family saga of a Czech Jewish family- 1938-2006.“Oh,not another Holocaust book!” you probably think. Holocaust only takesabout a third of the book, but of course, while those survivors are still amongus, it will never go away. So yep, maybe it is “another Holocaust book”.The main protagonist, Zuzana, like me, was born after the war, into communist Czechoslovakia.She had a very difficult mother (like I did). Loving, too,although you have to dig deep to find that love. I am not Zuzana; I wish I were. She is bolder than Iever was. Her mother is my mother, though, the only character in the book whois not fictitious. Are you curious yet? I hope so.Whenevermembers of my family thought about emigration and did not, it was a mistake.1938-that mistake cost many of them their life, 1948 when the communist came to power, 1968 when the Soviet Union crashed the Prague Spring, … I was determined not to make the same mistake. So, after trying to get the permission to goabroad for a short break, I managed to emigrate. Hmmmm. It was 1986 and only 3years after, the communist regime crumbled. Did I make a mistake? Should a book writtenabout me be called “Why didn’t she stay?”I lost my roots, and now I can just fly. I am a pork eating, Christmas celebrating Czech Jew living in England. Am I lost, not belonging anywhere?No,it makes me free. I don’t miss my roots.However, those refugees that are everywhere nowadays, are not as lucky as I was. Comingfrom a communist country, obtaining political asylum was simple. I didn’twant my children to be lied to in school like I was, I wanted them to be free.I was not free, living in a communist country, but nobody tried to kill me in Prague. I feel like wearing a big logo on a t-shirt:
BE KIND TO REFUGEES, NEXT TIME IT COULD BE YOU
But I only wear t shirts in the gym.So,what is my book about? Emigration, racism, antisemitism, living in a foreigncountry , and difficult mother daughter relationships, about love, and indifference, and dislike (hate might be too strong a word). It’s about Czechoslovakia, England, Caribbean. And yes, it is about people beingdifferent. But we shouldn’t forget that we are all the same species. We are all people, and the differences aresmall.
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