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Ladislav Koran is a Czech American whose life story is almost beyond belief. As a young man he was an accomplished athlete and friend of the greatest Czech runner of all time Emil Zatopek. He was still in his mid twenties when the communists came to power and, like so many bright and energetic young Czechs, he found himself on the wrong side of the new regime. It was not long before he was arrested, and he went through ten years of hell in a Stalinist labour camp. But even this did not break his spirit and energy. Today, in the United States, where

Hopefully Paul Wilson won't take affront to being included in our "Czechs in Toronto" series which wraps up this June. Though Canadian, Paul Wilson easily deserves the title of "honorary" Czech, having contributed enormously to Czech culture through his translations into English of authors that include Ivan Klima, Josef Skvorecky, and Vaclav Havel. In the late 60s and through much of the 70s Paul lived in Czechoslovakia becoming part of the underground movement. He befriended art critic Ivan Jirous, the guru of the seminal underground band The

In today's One on One Jan Velinger's guest is Susanne Medas, a British citizen of German-Czech-Jewish descent who is a sprightly 81, but still regularly visits the Czech Republic to teach English. She has been coming back since the early 90s even if returning means a certain coming to terms with the past. In her youth Susanne was lucky to escape following the Nazi occupation, one of the children saved through Nicholas Winton's famous kindertransports. But, although she escaped, she never saw her parents again. In this One on One she tells the story

Jan Kavan has been Czech foreign minister and president of the United Nations General Assembly. But Mr Kavan has also been involved in many controversies, and for years fought a legal battle to clear his name after being accused of collaborating with the communist-era secret police. In the 1980s he won a case against a British TV station, which claimed dissidents had been arrested when their names were found in a van he used to smuggle banned literature into Czechoslovakia. Here, in the second of a two-part interview, Jan Kavan gives his side of

Jan Kavan is one of the most interesting and controversial figures in Czech society in recent decades. The son of a Communist politician sentenced in the Slansky show trials of the early 1950s, he himself spent decades in Britain as a leading figure in Czech émigré circles. After his return in 1989, Mr Kavan was accused of having collaborated with the secret police but cleared his name and later became foreign minister and was president of the United Nations General Assembly. In the first of part of this two-part interview, Jan Kavan told me about

Lawyer Josef Cermak is one of the most recognised figures in Toronto, Canada's Czech community: a man involved in Czech-Canadian issues even at 80 an important supporter of Central and East European Studies at Toronto's U of T. Joe is also the author of the well-known "It All Started with Prince Rupert" - a popular history of Czechs and Slovaks in Canada now approaching its 2nd edition. Not too long ago I met with Joe in Toronto to discuss his book and we also talked about his own past: he recalled the rise of communism in his homeland and what

Rob Cameron's guest in this week's One on One is Erazim Kohak, professor of philosophy at Charles University in Prague. Forced to flee his country with his parents after the Communist takeover of 1948, he spent four decades living in exile in the United States, returning to his homeland in 1990.

A former town planner, Martin Krise is now an architect and a leading member of the preservationists group, the Club for Ancient Prague. When we met recently the conversation ranged from the Club's activities to planning and development in the Czech Republic over the last 15 years.

In this week's One on One, Rob Cameron speaks to Matej Cerny, who works for the Czech Republic's best known humanitarian aid group People in Need. The organisation is involved in campaigns in various countries around the globe, such as Chechnya, Afghanistan and most recently Cuba.

In yesterday's programme, the journalist and publisher Alexandr Tomsky recalled his early life and the decades he spent as a rather reluctant exile in London. Now, in the second part of this One on One special, Mr Tomsky talks about his return to Prague, his career in politics and why believes in monarchy. But first he recounts his impressions of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.