Rotary Club Radio was honored to sit down with Peter Vodenka and hear his story.  As you’ll hear in my interview with him, he risked everything for freedom.  He and his wife and their 2 children gave up everything they knew to escape from Communism in Czechoslovakia.  Listen to his amazing story!

Rotary Club Radio

Rotary Club Radio Episode 032

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Length: 54 min.

Featured Segment

Journey for FreedomIn today’s featured segment, I sit down with Peter Vodenka. In June of 1983, Peter, his wife, their 4-year-old daughter, and two-year-old son defected from behind the Iron Curtain of Communist Czechoslovakia.  In the middle of a cold, rainy night, they ran for our lives across the border from Communist Yugoslavia to western Austria while being chased by guards with automatic weapons.

They had spent ten years planning their escape.  They could tell no-one, not even their families of their plan and they left them and everything they owned behind. This was the only way to protect them from the wrath of their government, which they knew would come if we were successful.  If captured, Peter and his wife would have faced an automatic 10-year sentence in a hard-labor prison camp with the most dangerous criminals.  Their children would have been taken and raised in government-run institutions. They would have been labeled as political criminals and would never have seen their children again.

  • How did Peter and his family escape?
  • What was it really like to live in a communist country?
  • How did they get to America?
  • Did they ever see their family again?
  • Was freedom really worth the risk?

Listen to the interview to find out!  Peter is an amazing storyteller, author, and speaker.  He is available to speak at your next event and his book is available on his website.

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To contact the host of this program with questions, show ideas, or any other reason, email him at: kirk@rotaryclubradio.com. Rotary Club Radio is produced with the support of Rotary District 5960 and Rotary International.

Copyright 2012