Showing results by author "Zoltan" in Adventurers, Explorers & Survival

Accused of sabotage on the 10th anniversary of the 1956 revolution, the author tried to escape from Hungary. He was 17 years old. Caught before reaching the Yugoslav border, he was jailed and treated cruelly. In 1970, instead of regular military service, he had to do hard labor in a penal colony that was established for "enemies of the state”. Risking prison, he was able to trick police and obtain a red passport with a 24-hour Yugoslav transit visa in 1973.

The author was accused of sabotage on the 10th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. He was 17 years old. He tried to escape through the Hungarian-Yugoslav border with one of his classmates. Caught by border patrol, he was jailed and treated very badly. He barely survived the month-long ordeal. Stamped as an enemy of the state, he was taken to a labor camp at age 19. He had to do forced labor instead of regular military service. Against all odds, he was able to break free from the communist bloc at age 23.

I escaped from the communist bloc in the summer of 1973, swimming across a bay from Yugoslavia to Italy. I was almost 24 years old. Six months later, I arrived in the USA, where I became a permanent resident a couple of years later. I decided to move to the West Coast. Failed relationships, loneliness, a gambling addiction, and repeated trips to the edge of the cliff followed. Miraculously, a guardian angel was always there when I needed one.