Welcome to episode 17 of Cold War Conversations
In 1968 today’s guest was 15 year old at the same school in Prague as Czech communist leader Alexander Dubček’s son.
Jan Čulík provides a valuable eyewitness account of the heady days of the Prague Spring and the subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion. He provides some insightful views that I found challenged my understanding of the Prague Spring.
He details the situation in Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s, the Prague Spring, his experiences as the reformers were suppressed to the late 1970s and his arrest by the STB, the Czech secret police.
The interview starts as we talk about the level of censorship in Czechoslovakia before the Prague Spring.
Two part Radio Prague Interview with Jan
http://www.radio.cz/en/section/one-on-one/jan-culik-part-one
http://www.radio.cz/en/section/one-on-one/jan-culik-part-two
Books
Contemporary Film of the Prague Spring
Pathe news report on the Prague Spring
Josef Koudelka’s photos of -Prague’68
Rare colour film of 1968 Warsaw Pact Invasion
Prague 1968 Seven Days To Remember
Contemporary footage of the Warsaw Pact invasion
Czechoslovakia Vs Soviet Union 1969 Ice Hockey Match
Documentary Films
Documentary in english on the Prague Spring
Documentary on the End of the Prague Spring
Extra Content
Available on our Patreon page here