On Saturday, October 26, the Friends of Slovakia will co-sponsor a talk by Prof. John Palka who will present his new book, My Slovakia, My Family: One Family’s Role in the Birth of a Nation. The event, co-sponsored with the Slovak American Society of Washington, D.C., will take place at 2:00 p.m. at the Slovak Embassy, 3523 International Court, NW, Washington D.C. The event is free, open to the public, and light refreshments will be available.
Dr. John Palka is a retired professor of biology at the University of Washington and is the grandson of Dr. Milan Hodža, who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, the years leading up to World War II. In the eyes of many historians, Dr. Hodza was the most prominent Slovak political leader of the first half of the 20th century.
In reviewing the book, former U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia Ted Russell states, “Professor Palka’s book, My Slovakia, My Family, is a fascinating and superbly documented biography of the Hodža and Pálka families’ significant role in Slovak history. It includes dramatic accounts of his family’s escape first from Nazi-occupied Europe and then from Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia to a new life in America. It provides vivid portraits of courage and love of freedom and country that will resonate with anyone interested in Slovak history and Slovaks in America.”