The book presents a detailed biography of Alexander Dubcek, the icon of the "Czecho-Slovak Spring" in 1968. It aims to explain his decisions and intellectual development in the context of the turbulent development of the 20th century Central Europe. Dubck's importance went beyond Czechoslovak borders. His vision of the "socialism with the human face" secured him worldwide fame. At the end of the 1960s, he became a global symbol of the changes desired on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The short time of his leadership brought him and his country at the forefront of the global politics. The...

Text in German. Migration from the country -- this phenomenon can be found wherever there are undemocratic, generally unfree conditions. There are numerous examples and fates where fleeing the homeland was the only option, as in the Czech and Slovak history of the 20th century at the time of totalitarian regimes. In his present book, Slavomír Michálek deals with escapes from Czechoslovakia (ČSR) in the years 1948 to 1953. In doing so, he looks in particular at four hijackings of civilian aircraft and a passenger train and the subsequent "response of the communist hammer", the Czechoslovak...