Ivan Margolius - Heda Margolius Kovály

Reflections of Prague: Journeys through the 20th century, John Wiley & Sons, London 2006, 318 pages, 58 illustrations, ISBN 0470-02219-1

The major events, upheavals, suffering and triumphs of the 20^th century. From the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy to the First World War, the Czechoslovak Democratic interlude, Munich betrayal, Nazi occupation, Second World War, transports, concentration and extermination camps, Allied victory, Communist takeover, Stalinist purges and Soviet occupation to an end of the century freedom. From Kafka to Čapek, Masaryk, Hitler, Stalin, Gottwald, Dubček and Havel. The life of a Central European family situated in the intriguing and inspirational city of Prague caught up in the most perilous episodes of the political world of the time. A story that illustrates how much anguish and inhumanity can be inflicted by men on their fellow human beings in the name of distorted political doctrines, self-centred beliefs, indifference and prejudice and will shock every person who still considers as paramount the sanctity and spiritual worth of human personality, dignity and freedom.

"A remarkable book. This archetypical story of the twentieth century is intertwined with an almost stream-of-consciousness narrative of the history of the Czechs and of Prague, interspersed with amazing commentaries on Prague architecture and with samples of exquisite poetry by great contemporary poets. So the narrative flows like Eliot’s sweet Thames full of the debris of tragic lives, of horrors, of moments of beauty and testimonies of love – all against the backdrop of man’s inhumanity." Josef Škvorecký

"A poignant and vivid mémoire of a child searching for traces of his father, lost in the murky ideologies of post war Central Europe. An engrossing book." Sir John Tusa

"I found the book gripping, sad but defiant. Even after all we know about the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis and the Communists, I was shocked at what happened to your father and your family." Anthony Lewis, former columnist of New York Times

"I wanted to let you know the good and the bad about your book – the bad is that I found it so moving, I could not keep reading it. I was almost moved to tears for your loss, the difficulties of your situation, and the courage of your family, and of course, the others who suffered so much for so long.

Living in a land of wealth, amidst our poor poor politics, one is moved to some sense of guilt/outrage when exposed to what life is really like at the edge. My thanks to you for revealing that in great depth, like a wonderful photo of Prague, full of depth and subtlety.

The good part, of course, is having finished the book.

Again, my thanks to you for having written it, so carefully and yet without an appeal to mere fact – you have hit all the points necessary with the delicacy of Dvorak and the softness of touch that you must have received from your father. He would be more than proud of you for such an accomplishment; for one in his honor, and with such love, one can only guess his joy.

Raise a glass, to him, to your mother, and to you – well deserved. I wish I could say something more meaningful – but you have done it best." Geoffrey Goldberg

"Now, almost 70 years later, with access to official records and freedom to re-examine the past, Czech history – like that of Poles or Russians or Hungarians – can be seen not as some abstract pattern of national tragedy but as the sum total of millions of individual tragedies, each of which possesses its own distinctive and unforgettable voice. When that voice belongs to a mother or a father, the process of unearthing the past must be nearly unbearable, a kind of slow exhumation of memory validated by layers of recovered documents. If carried through unflinchingly, and without sentimentality, the result can give back life, as well as some measure of justice, to the dead. Ivan Margolius accomplishes this difficult task with a rare combination of pathos and objectivity. He has sought not merely to uncover the facts of his father's show trial and execution in 1952, but to recapture the brisk and vibrant personality of the man himself, and of the various worlds - political, artistic, familial – that he inhabited. Along the way he creates a vivid picture of Prague, and especially Jewish Prague, during some of the worst years of its long history… There's something almost mythic in Mr. Margolius's stubborn quest. Like some latter day Telemachus, he searches for a father who can never be found again. But to accomplish this, he also must reconstruct the Prague of his parents, as if there he might catch some splintered reflection of their lives… In 1986, Mr. Margolius's mother, Heda Margolius Kovály, published Under a Cruel Star, her own account of the same ghastly events. Her story remains a classic tale of survival against all odds and is as remarkable for its hard-won serenity as for its unsparing truthfulness. Her son has had a harder task. If his book lacks the terrifying immediacy of that first-person account, it is also more reflective and more nuanced. She made the trip out of hell, he's chosen to revisit it. Small wonder the golden memorials of Prague are veined by shadows; they are the marks of tears." Eric Ormsby, New York Sun

"Margolius has produced a carefully crafted memoir that combines humour, hope, imagined narrative and reconstructed history in a montage that befits and reflects his occupation as an architect [and] is both laudable and well worth reading ... In many respects, this book can only be fully understood as a companion piece and answer to his mother Heda Margolius Kovály's memoirs ... and to have produced separate and detailed accounts written by mother and son is an intergenerational treasure indeed." Barbara J. Falk, Canadian Slavonic Papers, September - December 2008

"The book takes a dignified place in the literature of bearing witness." Lorien Kaye, The Age, Melbourne

"A remarkable, nuanced, straightforward account of the author’s parents’ lives and of Prague. It is clear, informative and deeply touching. The author also has an excellent eye for what is distinctive in Prague, its architecture, its music, its films, its intellectual life." Republic of Letters, Limon and Boston, Spring 2007

"Poignant and uplifting, it's a memorable story which stays in the mind long after the last page has been turned." Nottingham Evening Post, Nottingham

"It is terrible events that form the background for Ivan Margolius’s combined family history and memoir. And what a family it was: remarkable, and, at the same time, emblematic of the assimilated Jewish bourgeoisie that was one of the defining features of pre-war East-Central Europe. ... Ivan is at his best in conjuring up the world inhabited by his parents both that of the interwar Czechoslovakia and the horrors of the Second World War. He fashions conversations between relatives that took place before his birth, which bring his characters alive, and make his book more of an evocative family history than a memoir. Ivan seems to want Heda and Rudolf to become for us, as they are for him, 'icons, collectively representing the human achievements and suffering of the troubled twentieth century.'" Bradley Abrams, The Times Literary Supplement, London

"It is a memoir about his family so wrenching and yet human and humane, so intimate and yet such a useful window on our modern world, reading it we should never wish to be the same again." George Abbott White, Denebola, Boston

"Reflections of Prague stands as an important testimony to tragic times, and Margolius is the first child of any of the Slánský Trial families to record their side of the story." The Prague Post, Prague

“There are several most moving episodes in the book…the book serves as a historical corrective but also carries a wider lesson.” Asian Age, India

"Despite the death and all the suffering it has to tell this is a story of an ultimately victorious life." British Czech and Slovak Review, London

"Reflections of Prague is a stunning walk down memory lane. I consider Reflections to be an essential primer for anyone with more than a passing interest in Czech history." 5-star review on Amazon.com

"The author sets the stage beautifully by giving the history of the Czech nation, the plight of its Jewish population, and the suffering at the hands of the Nazis and Communists. He weaves the story of his family into this history with great skill … I particularly appreciated his attention to detail, his accurate and beautiful descriptions of Prague and the Czech countryside, and his use of poetry throughout the book. The reader cannot help but weep for a son who has such deep feelings and who carries with him such deep sorrow for a father whom he knew for only a few very short years. A wonderful book!" Charles Heller, 5-star review on Amazon.com

"I began to ‘look through it’ at noon and have spent the rest of the afternoon feeling stunned and unable to do anything else. It is powerful writing. Sad, tender, poetic, restrained. Clear-eyed. Its lack of sentimentality reminds me of Gramsci’s writing ... “pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will”. I love the photographs in which hovers the relationship between the two of them and the three of you."

"I’m reading Ivan’s book – not only is it very moving but it is a significant work for all the reasons we know."

"I started reading the book, and couldn't put it down. Didn't get to sleep until 2.30 this morning – completely fascinating ..."

“What an extraordinary book - what extraordinary lives and what extraordinarily appalling experiences the book is testament to, as well as to the no less extraordinary courage and integrity of those who not only survived such unimaginably outrageous times but managed to rise above them and emerge un-cowed, yet without letting cynicism taint their compassion, humility or their belief in truth and beauty.”

"Just read an excerpt from Ivan's book last night – I must say I was totally moved – his story is just so moving, and his writing wonderful. Imaginative, surprising, descriptive, captivating – what an amazing book it must be!"

"I must congratulate you on a tremendous achievement. I have been absolutely captivated."

"I find the book very beautiful, while at the same time being informative. It is good that it is autobiographical and subjective, personal. History books can be written by anyone, but placing events in the context of a life make these events real."

"A very readable, interesting and poignant book. I am grateful for your story to reflect my sentiments, how important it is to break the deafening silence about the injustice suffered by individuals like your father JUDr Rudolf Margolius, and others, who believed in "that God that failed them."

"I was enormously impressed by what you achieved with it. I felt that you were particularly successful in bringing your parents to life for the reader. I really felt that I got to know your mother and your father through it. Your mother really is an amazing woman to have gone through what she has without being full of hatred. You managed to make it both a personal and very moving story while also imparting some very significant historical insights. I felt I understood the relationship between Russia and the Eastern Bloc etc. I was also amazed by the amount of research that you had done, how, for instance, you had been able to get hold of the reports of the secret service tapping your apartment."

"Your telling of your parents' story and your part in it, and how so much of what went on in those years affects you to this day, was to me spellbinding and terribly poignant. I am so glad you have written as you have: your memoir ought to be required reading for citizens of a democracy such as ours ..."

"I have just finished reading your book and as I have had very similar childhood experiences as you did, I can appreciate what a great job you have made of a truly difficult subject ... congratulations on a wonderful book."

„Ačkoliv to všechno vím ze čtení a z dokumentace, je to znovu otřesné. Napsal jsi to výborně, Tvoje občas i lyrické postřehy z dětství propojené s archivním svědectvím o celém tom svinstvu jsou velice působivé a jen umocňují to absurdno a tragično. Ta hrůzostrašná cena, kterou jste za to všichni zaplatili.”

‘Knížka o tvé rodině je velmi dobře napsaná a hodně zajímavá. Dodavá mně jak fakta tak pocitové zázemí k české historii, všeobecně tak k tvé rodině. Jsem úplně unešen jak přesně jsi provozoval výzkum!’