tk do ivota – Vzpomnky syna Hradce Krlov (2025)

This Czech-language concertina book is a memoir by Jan Piman, born in 1938 in Hradec Krlov, a city steeped in history. With honesty, he tells the story of a man who experiences the horrors and hopes of the 20th century, from childhood memories of the war and his bond with his hometown to persecution by the Communist regime and his escape to the West in 1969. The story also follows his father, a successful doctor imprisoned for political reasons, and the nationalisation of the familys property. Despite the blows of fate, the narrator refuses to give up, races bicycles and searches for his own path. When the regime prevents him from studying, he leaves for Prague, longs for artistic freedom and forms friendships with figures from the cultural scene. After the Prague Spring, when censorship grows harsher, he decides to leave the country with his wife and child, guided by the belief that freedom is irreplaceable. It is a powerful testimony to courage and to a love of his homeland that never went out, even in the darkest times.