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A Fresh Look
at
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
by
John Halford
We take our readers, in this article,
to Czecboslovakia, a nation locked in the heart of Europe.
O
NE DAY
recent–
ly,
while in
Prague,
a
Czech fr iend
asked me, " l s it true
that worker s are
starving in America?
We have heard that
there are now soup
lines in Detroit. "
past, notables ranging
from Beethoven to Mark
Twain have vis i ted to
"take t he e u re." And
thousands still visit every
year. Czechoslovak ian
handicrafts- especially
crystal ware- are famous
around the world for their
beauty and qual ity.
" 1 am afraid someone
has given you a very
incomplete view of life
in Amer ica," I told
him.
But Czechoslovakia is
j
not just a pretty face.
Tt
is
~
also a majar industria l
~
power. Beneath the coun–
i
try 's s ur face li e la r ge
::.
reserves of coa].
L____
.l....______
..:::::!it..._.....::::________
~
4.
The Czechs and Slo-
"Like you have of us, " he
replied . "You r newspapers and
magazines are negat ive about life
in our country."
He had made a valid point. Both
East and West go to great lengths
to paint as miserable a picture as
possible of each other. Westerners
have fi rm opinions abou t Eastern
Europe- even if (or especially if)
one has not visited these nations.
But, do these opinions give a
fair and accurate picture?
" Why don't you write some–
thing positive abou t Czecboslo–
vakia in you r magazine?" my
Czech friend asked .
"For 50 years
The Plain Truth
has been a magazine of under–
standing - not propaganda," 1
reminded him.
"So- help yo ur readers to
understand Czechoslovakia."
Today' s Czech oslovakia
What is it like in Czechoslovakia
4
today? l should point out first that
Czechoslovakia is not
typical
of
Eastern Europe. There is no such
thing as a "typical " European
nation- east or west. Each is an
individual state, usually with its
own language, its own culture and a
history st retchi ng back for
hundreds, or even thousands, of
years.
Physically, Czechoslovakia is
one of the more beautiful coun–
tries on earth.
lt
has just about
everythi ng-high mountains, deep
valleys, dense forests, rolling
plains, rivers, lakes, caves-every–
thing, in fact, except a coastl ine.
Few places can rival Czechoslo–
vakia for architectural interest.
More than 2,500 castles still dot
the landscape, and although time
and innumerable wars have taken
their toll, there remain more than
25,000 other buildings of historie
note.
There are 1,300 mineral springs
and health spas, where in times
vaks today have a working week of
42 hours and can look forward to a
paid vacation every year. Consumer
goods and luxuries are expensive by
Western standards. Nearly every
home has a television set. A sur–
prisingly large number of workers
each own an automobile.
lt
is also
surprising to learn that a la rge
number o f Czechs- o rdin a r y
people, not just the top officials–
each have a small holiday borne in
the bilis around Prague. There is a
regular exodus from the city on
weekends.
Medica! attent ion is both cheap
and readily available to a ll. A fair
assessment of tbe Czech nation
today is t hat they are a cultured,
talented and fr iendly people, liv–
ing in what can only be described
as one of t he " have" nations of the
world. lndeed, if we are to com–
pare their situation with t he lot of
t he
average
human being in the
Third World, the Czechs are liv–
ing in luxury.
All
young people
The PLAIN TRUTH