Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance

Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance is the captivating and tender memoir of Charles Novacek, a Czechoslovakian whose idyllic childhood exploring the Tatra Mountains was shattered by the Nazi occupation of his homeland. He spent his youth defending his neighbors, his family and his country, first from the Nazi atrocities of World War II and then from the Soviet oppression of theensuing Cold War.Charles was eleven years old when his father and uncle recruited him into the Czech Resistance. Antonin Novacek not only taught his son to survive in the wild, but also prepared him for wartime. Charles was taught to trust no one and how to resist pain, hunger, and fear.Among his first assignments was the delivery of messages to soldiers parachuting behind enemy lines and hiding them in caves he equipped for their shelter.As a young man, Charles was captured and jailed by the Communists and rescued by an underground resistance network. Realizing he was in too much danger to remain in Czechoslovakia, he staged a daring escape only to land in a miserable displaced persons camp. His will to live prevailed once again, and Charles married and eventually built a successful life in America.