Can you imagine zipping down and away on a 380, 000 volt power line that comes out of a nuclear reactor, from one country to another, and all that in the middle of the night?
No?
How about doing that amidst nature’s raging elements such as high winds, and intense rain storm, while your weight causes you to sink 18 feet (5.5 meters) closer to the live wires, till you start glowing, ready to be incinerated?
Still can’t?
Well, I can. Because I did it!
Certainly not for fun, however that’s what I had to do to get over the Iron Curtain, (Communist form of Homeland Security) which was placed in highly monitored militarized border zone, to be a free man.
In July 1986, I was escaping from Czech Republic, (formerly known as Communist Czechoslovakia), into Austria.
I did that together with a friend of mine, sort of a “Mad Scientist” working on his ‘Free Energy’ device, that just as much as the project, as well as his sharply opposed ideological viewpoints, obviously didn’t go unnoticed by the government in Prague.
To irritate the dictatorship even more, I became outspoken about the Secret Service/ Police spying on the public by wiretapping the phones, suppressing our human rights etc. Needless to say, that kind of totalitarian Diablo Zeitgeist was not exactly conducive to free-spirited politically incorrect spiritual gangsters like me. Due to the pressure I ended up under, I had to get out fast. The massive time crunch I was in forced me to improvise hard, that’s if I wanted to dodge North Korea type of style political prison.
I knew that crossing the International border, where hundreds died trying to defect, was going to pose a serious challenge. In reality, I had no clue what a wild ride my escape is going to turn into.
Yes! We kind of turned into a divergent Spider Man to be able to do the unthinkable, and that was to ride the world’s most extreme zip line – the nuclear powered high voltage power line!
Nothing is impossible!!!
Inspired by great escape stories such as Papillon (Butterfly), and Escape from Alcatraz, we knew that whatever human mind can conceive, it can achieve and that anything can be done, including crossing the deadly 5 miles without anyone even noticing.
In short, once we managed to infiltrate the militarized border zone, we became ghosts. Failed a few times, yet the moral remained unbroken. Then, not giving up, and more determined then ever, when the time was right, we removed ourself from that fancy “home arrest” with a surgical precision.
Free!!!
While back home in Czech, shocked Communist propaganda demonized us, in Western block countries this story exploded upon a public like an atomic bomb and became instant media sensation.
At least in Europe, tension in Middle East, the biggest drug bust, terrorists or gun runners didn’t get better coverage than this story. In Austria, and in Germany, we were just as shocking and observed as is the Ukraine conflict today. We were called: “The Young James Bonds of Eastern Europe.” In oppressed countries; as well as in the free world, we gained legions of fans, constantly wanting to hear more riveting details of this amazing accomplishment.
As a result, our totally unique escape story kept stealing the headlines of major magazines and newspapers even many months after. Some of the U.S. media such as L.A. Times, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune noticed this truly unique triumph of a human spirit as well.
Now, after all those years, this time from exciting Las Vegas, I am offering the readers to share all the details of my one of a kind “Supermax” unauthorized exit strategy, in which you find not only a unique piece of Cold War history, but also suspense, humor, Czech beer drinking pub scenes, adventure, and a lot of intellectually stimulating material.
My self-made pulley is on display in Checkpoint Charlie (Museum of Escapes), in Berlin, Germany. In my book and in the photo gallery that’s on the bottom of this page, you can see the latest photos from my visit in October 2013.
I hope I peaked your interest, and I also want to encourage you to sample my autobiography which is on Amazon.com.
Book Review
“I chose this rating because I absolutely loved this book. I felt as though the author was giving me a personal tour into his world. I loved that he explained the history of that land and his people. There were things I never knew.
I loved the fact that Daniel and his friend were so driven to achieve freedom at any cost. The fact that God and the United States of America, the land of the free, played such an important part in their decision to escape in the daring way that they did. Those men absolutely know without a doubt, what freedom means and what it takes to achieve it and keep it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in real life stories with adventure, beliefs, trust, and the desire for freedom and much more.
I’m hoping that maybe there will be a producer/director out there that will read this book and see it as great material for a movie or documentary.
I wish them both many blessing and much success for the future.” – Barbara
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Urban Literary Review 