Life in Czechoslovakia

"... the greatest pleasure… was the birth of my two children. I had them next to my body and kept the light on during the night. I didn’t want to sleep through a single minute of this pure, intense, indescribable joy that this live and perfect healthy creature had come from my body, in spite of all the pain and abuse and damage it had been through."

— Judita Hruza, Questions and Answers to Students

Judita finished medical school in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where the environment was much friendlier toward Jews. While in school at Charles University she met her husband, Zdenek, who was also a medical student. When Zdenek was 17 he had joined the underground movement and had fought in the Prague uprising against the Germans in May 1945. Judita and Zdenek married in 1951. While in Prague Judita had two children, Eva and George, and worked as a pediatrician.

During the 1950s communism took hold of Czechoslovakia and Judita and Zdenek feared for their children and the impact of living under a communist dictatorship. Judita and Zdenek were considering defection but authorities would not issue permits allowing all members of a family to leave together. An opportunity arose when Zdenek received a one-year visiting professorship at New York University School of Medicine. While he was in the United States, they planned an escape for the entire family. Judita took their children on the long journey from Yugoslavia and then, with Denes’ assistance to Sweden. Judita and her children, Eva and George, arrived in Stockholm on December 31, 1966, just in time to welcome 1967 in a free country.

Stockholm was another adjustment for Judita and her family. Judita and her children lived with Denes, learned Swedish, and began acclimating to life in Sweden. Judita worked at a pediatric hospital and Eva and George attended school in Stockholm. Meanwhile, Judita’s husband Zdenek worked in New York awaiting his family’s immigration to the United States. Sweden was a transformative place for Judita as it was where she started sharing her experiences during the War. Judita found the Swedes had a genuine interest in her Holocaust story. A psychiatrist asked Judita to write down her story and once she began talking, she could not stop.

Three years later Judita, Eva, and George received immigration visas to join Zdenek in the United States.

Liberation and Aftermath

Coming to America