Under a Cruel Star: A Life In Prague, 1941-1968

The Cold War has begun, and the Iron Curtain has cut off Czechoslovakia and much of the rest of Eastern Europe from its Western counterparts. The radio offers little news about Western Europe, and the only Western books translated at the time “gave a grim picture” (94) of life there. Heda writes of her certainty that “police surveillance had become the rule all over the world—not only in our own country” (94). The lack of information inspires a growing fear, and no one dares to criticize Czechoslovakia’s increasingly brutal judicial system. Heda says that when the arrests “first started, it was generally assumed that the accused were all guilty of something” (94).

When people in Heda and Rudolf’s circle are arrested, the couple begins to doubt the judicial process. At first, they believe that the arrests are mistakes that will be rectified. The country soon experiences shortages of basic goods, and people find themselves without enough money. A lack of trust begins to work its way through all facets of society.

The publishing house that employs Heda closes, and she takes a new position at a different publishing house. The workers there are deeply involved in the Party, and they know little about how to keep a publishing house afloat.