Short Story: The Prague Connection -part 2

Short Story: The Prague Connection -part 2

THE PLAN. His plan would be a great way for them to visit Prague without bringing too much attention to themselves. They would then act like normal tourists, looking to buy a villa for retirement or investment purposes. He now had to get the approval of the Probate Judge to travel to Prague, find the old man's heirs and disburse the funds to them. It sounded too easy, which made him all the more anxious The attorney met the judge the following week after court hours and he listened to his plan with great interest. He showed the judge the map of Prague and the surroundings area. He circled six towns, all very close together. The heirs were within 5 to 10 miles from each other. At least, that's what the map showed. The map was very old, and the addresses of the heirs were probably not current, but he guessed that if they could find one sibling it might lead to the others. The Judge said nothing, only listened and smiled. He heard in the attorney's voice a sincere plea to be allowed to help his fellow countryman. He had to remind the attorney the illegality of taking funds outside of the United States, and behind the Iron Curtain in particular, even if it was the wishes of the deceased client. He stated that he could not overlook the law, and also reminded the attorney that he and his wife would be taking a major risk with their lives. He eventually conceded that a waiver might possibly be obtained from the Justice Department, in view of the Czechoslovakian position. The hearts of all Americans went out to the oppressed. Even those who had not experienced Communism hated what was going on inside Czechoslovakia.

It was a daring plan to say the least, and if caught, they could spend their remaining years in a Russian jail.

The Judge called few days later to say that everything was in place. He wished the attorney and his wife a restful vacation in Europe. Thus the adventure of their lives is about to commence.

The Tour would start from London on June 19, 1962. The cold wind was still blowing off Lake Erie as it was only March. But during various times of the day, no matter if the attorney was in court, in his office working on a will whatever, he was still planning for their visit to Prague. He made notes of what they would do each day in Prague. Should they first try to locate the heirs? Or go sightseeing or look up a real estate agent in order to view villas? He did not want to attract the attention of the Russian police. Could he accomplish all this in one week? He had a strange feeling that leaving Prague could be more difficult than anticipated. His wife gave him her full support in this extremely dangerous undertaking. Her parents also were from Czechoslovakia, and her mother was still alive in Cleveland. They talked many times about their relatives left behind, hoping one day to see them. The tour to Europe had opened discussions with the attorney’s family and friends, but the trip to Prague was top secret.

It was very difficult for the attorney and his wife to keep this secret from their two grown-up children. They wanted them to know about Prague, just in case problems arose and they needed help from Uncle Sam. The attorney wrote a short note concerning why they had gone to Prague and that, if they were not back in a reasonable time, to contact the State Department and the Probate Judge. This was then placed in a sealed folder, which he mailed to himself the day they left for Europe, Knowing that his mail would be held at the Post Office until he returned. Knowing that his kids would pick up his mail and investigate his disappearance was the best insurance he could give himself. So, on June 18, 1962 the attorney and his wife waved goodbye to their family and departed from Cleveland Hopkins Airport to start their adventure. They boarded an Alitalia Jet for London and arrived in London the next morning. It was a very long night, and his thoughts naturally turned to their upcoming visit to Prague. There were no notes of the plan but in his mind he kept making changes. His plan had many options depending on what occurred when they arrived in Prague. All he could do at this time was to try to relax and enjoy the tour.

In London they joined Caravan Tour #410 and were introduced to their travel group. They enjoyed the day in London, did a lot of sightseeing and the next day flew to Paris. There they started the guided bus tour through several European countries. From Paris to Rome and in between, they enjoyed the sights. It was a long and tiring three weeks. During the tour the attorney was carrying a small dark bag, like a camera case, although there was no camera in the bag. It contained Travellers Checks for the heirs in Prague and never left his person.

On July 11, they arrived back in Paris in time to board the flight to Prague on Air France 708. The jet arrived at Ruzyne Airport in Prague at 9:35 a.m. But prior to arriving in Prague, about 20 minutes or so from landing the attorney read a new Customs regulations that he hadn't seen before. The months prior to this trip, he read up on all the Customs regulations for entering Prague. In fact, he even went back to after World War II in researching the Customs laws of bringing large sums of money into the country. He had seen nothing to be concerned about. This new Customs law went into effect at the time of the 1960 Constitution. It wasn't in any Czechoslovakian law book. Even the State department Releases on entering Prague did not cover what he had just read. It stated:

Any kind and any amount of foreign currency brought into Czechoslovakia, must be declared at the customs station and entered onto the Customs Declaration Form. The form entitles tourists to exchange monies or travellers checks with Tourist Bonus at a special rate of exchange. Money or checks are exchanged in accordance with the exchange list issued by the State Bank of Czechoslovakia at their exchange offices.

The one and only bank in Prague, said the State Department, was The State bank of Czechoslovakia. The attorney was relieved that they could exchange travellers checks since that was the form of money he was carrying. Most of it belonged to the heirs and a small amount of the money was his own personal funds. He had not counted on this new bank law. This could end their trip to Prague before they had even left the airport. The plane had just put down its landing wheels. They were running out of time. He had to come up with a convincing story as why he was carrying such a large amount of money. He looked out the window and at the hills overlooking the Vltava River and saw several villas. This was the reason he had came to Prague- to but a villa and retire.

This was one of the plans he had discussed with the Judge in Cleveland As the plane was touching down on the runway, he explained the situation to his wife and how they would need to make up a story about buying a villa. They rehearsed their lines and felt fairly comfortable with the villa retirement story. Would it work in Russian- occupied Prague? Only time would tell.

End of Part ll