Escape Photos from the Vodenkas’ Journey for Freedom
Experience the journey through pictures taken during the escape from Czechoslovakia and request for asylum in the United States, where Peter and his family now enjoy citizenship and freedom.
Where it all began! Peter’s hometown in Czechoslovakia–Mnisek Pod Brody
Peter will use the family car and a vacation as critical elements in the escape plan he’d been working on for 10 years.
Peter and his family stop at the Adriatic Sea on “vacation” 2 days before tackling the well-guarded border between them and freedom.
Ever so close to freedom, the family hides behind the car to have a picnic meal before braving the final stage of their life-changing journey.
Although injuries were minor, Peter and his family did not escape Czechoslovakia unscathed.
After escaping from Czechoslovakia, a kind woman offers them their first taste of freedom.
With death and imprisonment behind them, Peter now faces the challenge of an interview with the US consul to apply for defection.
Peter’s dream is about to take flight, literally, as he and his family await their plane to the USA, a land he has dreamed of since boyhood.
As refugees, the family was so grateful for their sponsor, First Lutheran Church. Two sisters in the congregation shared their Czechoslovakian heritage and spoke their native tongue, making the transition to life in the US easier.
