Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Sat, 25 Jul 2026 10:05:22 +0200https://english.radio.cz/jaroslav-and-alzbeta-hofrichter-enduring-power-love-8112389© 2026 Radio Prague International A few years ago I spent an unforgettable day with Jaroslav and Alžběta Hofrichter. It was 2013, Jaroslav was 93, Alžběta 91, and they were living in sheltered accommodation for Second World War veterans at Prague’s Military Hospital. I was there to hear their life story, a tale of courage, resilience, a touch of luck and, above all, of the enduring power of love. The Hofrichters were known by their many friends as the “turtledoves”. Having met them I could see why. If there is an elixir for a happy marriage, they had found it. Jaroslav spent four years serving in Britain’s Royal Air Force along with some 2,000 fellow Czechs and Slovaks, nearly a quarter of whom never came home. At the end of the war, he returned to Czechoslovakia as a hero, but before long, his record with the RAF became a thorn in the side of the new communist regime. For most of the next four decades he and his wife Alžběta were treated with constant suspicion. Here, in their own words, is the story of Jaroslav and Alžběta – or Elizabeth – Hofrichter, first broadcast in December 2013. Both have since died, but they are remembered with great fondness. encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/hofrichter_jaroslav_alzbeta.jpg?timestamp=1591146241 https://english.radio.cz/jaroslav-and-alzbeta-hofrichter-enduring-power-love-8112389 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9