Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:52:54 +0200https://english.radio.cz/sylva-simsova-escaping-freedom-all-i-thought-about-was-survival-fear-came-later-8168466© 2026 Radio Prague International Sylva Šimsová was 18 when her father, a Social Democrat politician, told her the family had to escape from Czechoslovakia. It was 1949, a year after the Communists had taken power. The young Sylva insisted that her fiancé, whom she had met through her beloved scouts only six months earlier, come with them. Remarkably, almost 70 years later she and her husband – a composer and broadcaster who goes by the name Karel Janovický – are still together. encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/simsova_sylva_janovicky_karel.jpg?timestamp=1705321988 https://english.radio.cz/sylva-simsova-escaping-freedom-all-i-thought-about-was-survival-fear-came-later-8168466 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9