How A Future Supermodel Was Held Hostage By Communist Czechoslovakia
The struggle between Pavlína Pořízková’s family and communism.
If you grew up in the 1980s and 1990s you probably know who Pavlína Pořízková is. Even if you didn’t, you most certainly have seen her photo somewhere. “An American supermodel of Czechoslovakian descent,” is what you would find with a quick Google search. In fact, she was the first supermodel from Central/Eastern Europe to obtain such worldwide success, and it was virtually impossible not to run into a photo of her in fashion or beauty magazines -and their covers- back in the day. During a recent interview for PBS, Pořízková briefly recalled her impressions of Czechoslovak communist totalitarianism: “We were taught this from preschool and on, that we would be praised for delivering the news to, you know…Help the country to weed out those terrible people, who were, you know…Making us suffer by spreading lies.’ […] The real terror of occupation, of being occupied…Is not having to stand in a bread line at three o’clock in the morning, and the fact that you only really have flour and lard to eat and that you will never get new clothes, or there’s only one Barbie in a toy store in the entire city. Those are not the dangers…Those, you can navigate around. The danger is that you cannot rely on your belief. Your brain is…
