Prague Winter Lp: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 [Large Print] [Paperback]

In this work, the former U.S. Secretary of State brings a relevant blend of history and autobiography to the reading lists of anyone interested in the shaping of modern Europe due to the second world war. While the bulk of the first several chapters serves as a backdrop to the first memories that Albright, born in 1937, begins to share in chapter 12 ("The Irresistible Force"), the author also provides thoughts from the files of her father, Josef Körbel, a Czechoslovakian diplomat who served from London as an advisor to Edvard Benes, the exiled Czech president, until the National Socialists were defeated in Germany, and as the country's ambassador to Yugoslavia before being forced to flee to the U.S. after the Communist coup in 1948.

To some degree, what Albright provides in this dense, 400-page text is reminiscent of the format that Fritz Stern uses for "Five Germanys I Have Known" (see my review), albeit from the viewpoint of Czechoslovakia before, during, and after World War II, but most of the author's insight comes later in the book, in retrospect, rather than from the years covered, due to her young age at the time. She covers considerable ground, and although it might be helpful for potential readers to have a general understanding of what happened during that time period in Europe at large, in my opinion Albright writes well and potential readers should not have difficulty understanding what she attempts to convey, even if one has not been exposed to Czechoslovakian history.

Admittedly, it is never trivial writing a review for texts covering such weighty content. However, I especially appreciated chapter 14 ("The Alliance Comes Together"), in which Albright discusses the conversion of her parents to Catholicism in light of her Jewish family heritage, chapters 18 ("Terezín"), 19 ("The Bridge Too Far"), and 20 ("Cried-out Eyes"), in which the author shares concentration camp experiences, and her concluding thoughts in the afterward ("The Next Chapter"). And because of my Donauschwaben (Danube Swabian) heritage, which has provided insight from family members who over the years have shared their concentration camp experiences following the Russian invasion of Yugoslavia, I also found interesting the personal experiences of Albright, who had privileged status in Yugoslavia due to her father's role at that same time.

While the author does share the fact that her father did not agree with Tito's character, it was difficult to read the few passages associated with Tito in chapter 26 ("A Precarious Balance"), because my ethnic German family faced confiscation of property, expulsion to concentration camps and labor camps, and murder by government forces. Albright acknowledges wrongdoing by the Allied powers, but she does not get into much detail with regard to the plight of 15 million ethnic Germans living outside Germany following the end of World War II. However, I must admit that the several pages that Albright shares in chapter 25 ("A World Big Enough to Keep Us Apart") are more than most authors care to provide on this subject, and her confession that "my views on Czechoslovak policy in this period are colored by my experiences as an adult far removed from the passions of the day" is well received.

I wish there was room here (and patience from readers) to quote Albright extensively, but perhaps sharing some of her closing remarks will help compel you to read this book. "Given the events described in this book, we cannot help but acknowledge the capacity within us for unspeakable cruelty or - to give the virtuous their due - at least some degree of moral cowardice. There is a piece of the traitor within most of us, a slice of collaborator, an aptitude for appeasement, a touch of the unfeeling prison guard. Who among us has not dehumanized others, if not by word or action, then at least in thought? From the maternity ward to the deathbed, all that goes on within our breasts is hardly sweetness and light. Some have concluded from this that what is needed from our leaders is an iron hand, an ideology that explains everything, or a historical grievance that can serve as a center of our lives."

"Still others study the past and despair that we will ever learn anything, comparing us instead to a laboratory animal on an exercise wheel, always running, never advancing. If I agreed with this dismal prognosis, I would never have arisen from bed this morning, much less written this book. I prefer the diagnosis of Václav Havel, whose conclusions about human behavior were forged in the smithy of the Cold War. Amid the repression of those years, he discerned two varieties of hope. The first he compared to the longing for 'some kind of salvation from the outside.' This caused people to wait and do nothing because they had 'lost the feeling that there was anything they could do...So they waited [in essence] for Godot...But Godot is an illusion. He is the product of our own helplessness, a patch over a hole in the spirit...the hope of people without hope."

"On the other end of the spectrum," said Havel, there are those who insist on 'speaking the truth simply because it [will] lead somewhere tomorrow, or the day after, or ever.' This urge, too, is fully human, every bit as much as the temptation to despair. Such daring, he argued, grows out of the faith that repeating truth makes sense in itself, regardless of whether it is 'appreciated, or victorious, or repressed for the hundredth time. At the very least, it [means] that someone [is] not supporting the government of lies.' Havel admitted, however, that defiance is not undertaken for its own sake but because people cannot exist in the absence of hope. Logically or not, people act out of faith 'that a seed once sown [will] one day take root and send forth a shoot. No one [knows] when.'"

"There are many examples of cruelty and betrayal in this book, but they are not what I will take with me as I move to life's next chapter. In the world where I choose to live, even the coldest winter must yield to agents of spring and the darkest view of human nature must eventually find room for shafts of light". Well said.

My initial response to Prague Winter by Madeline Albright echoes the back cover blurb by Walter Isaacson, "I was totally blown away by this book." I was expecting something along the lines of a sentimental family memoir set in the WWII context. What Albright delivers is a first-class history lesson on the WWII era primarily from the Czechoslovakia perspective. The historical narrative reads like an intriguing novel that precisely details the dynamics leading to WWII, during WWII and the aftermath of WWII. The personal quality of the book flows from the involvement of Albright's family in Czechoslavakia's politics and foreign affairs. Her father was a foreign affairs officer who opposed the Nazi's and the Communists. Readers will hear both researched history and Albright's families history that serve to draw readers into the story. I believe Albright shares unique insights into the political dynamics and war machinations during this historical period.

What strikes me about Albright's book is how revealing it is for our own times. The historical lessons that can be ascertained from reading this type of history can save us from falling into the same traps that gave rise to fascists and communists. Near the end of the book, Alright writes, "Few choices have proved more damaging to the future than teaching children to resent the past." Albright's account of even the most horrific circumstances always finds a way to highlight some redeeming quality among the people whether it is the Londoners during the bombings, the Jews singing requiems over mass graves, or Jews finding a way to have community within a Nazi ghetto, or believers in democracy holding on to faith that diverse people can come together. There are myriad tragedies occuring in the pages of the book, and there is hopefulness. We see how earnestly the Nazi's and Communists strived to divide people and turn groups against other groups based on race, nationality, religion and economic level. Too often such tactics have worked for political movements. There are heroes in this book that fought the tide and reached out to others.

I encourage you to read this book. If anyone hesitates because of Ms. Albright's political affiliation, you need not worry about partisan American politics rearing its head here. This is a book for everyone.

Madeleine Albright, the first female US Secretary of State, was born shortly before World War II. She grew up with Christmas trees and Sunday mass. Too young to even remember her Czech grandparents left behind when her parents went to England (her father was part of the Czech Provisional Government during the war), she never knew until nearly six decades later that the family they had left behind in Czechoslovakia was Jewish and that nearly all of them had died in the Holocaust.

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 is the story of Albright's personal journey of discovery. Those who study World War II, even superficially, all know that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain essentially signed away the nation of Czechoslovakia to Hitler, an act that has made Chamberlain the very symbol of appeasement ever since. Albright gives us the story behind the story.

Madeleine Albright's father was Josef Korbel, a prominent Czech diplomat. Because of her unique access, both as a former official of the United States of America and her father's daughter, with access to the wealth of material he left behind, Albright provides us with an interesting and engaging history of Czechoslovakia that goes far to fill in the often sketchy and superficial gloss that too often colors the importance of this little corner of the world during the War years while also telling the story of her family.

Well illustrated with pictures from her family collection and superbly footnoted, I found Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 a compelling read, very hard to put down. If you're a history buff, this one's for you!

Highly recommended.