Tom Jelinek

Conquered From Within Tom Jelinek

The true story of a survivor of Czechoslovakia's 1948 communist coup d'etat, and concentration camps. In 1948, the free and democratic country of Czechoslovakia was conquered from within, and went on to experience a Stalinist reign of terror. The coup was widely opposed by students and intellectuals, some 30,000 of whom organized a peaceful and orderly demonstration in support of the constitution. This alarmed the coup plotters, who called in armed communist militia, who brazenly opened fire on the demonstrators. Many were killed, and most of those who escaped were arrested over the course of the following year, severely beaten, and sentenced to life as slave laborers in the country's toxic uranium mines. Few managed to escape. One of those few survived a harrowing escape and defection across the highly militarized German border. He witnessed firsthand how systematically Czechoslovakia's institutions were subverted, and how easily a vicious minority transformed the country into Stalinist tyranny. Thanks to extensive notes he took immediately following the events in question, his story is now available to the world.