Freedom Flight
THERE WAS ONE THING THEY COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT: FREEDOM.
On the rainy afternoon of Friday, July 13, 1956, seven desperate young people boarded a twin engine DC-3 in the People’s Republic of Hungary, with the intention of diverting it to West Germany. They had no weapons, no map, and no idea whether the plane carried enough fuel to get them there. They would have to brave the gun of the security officer on board, the wild maneuvers of the pilot, the Russian MiG fighters in hot pursuit and a harrowing flight over the stormy Alps, without navigation. Failure would mean certain death.
AND A SPECTACULAR ESCAPE FROM TYRANNY WAS BORN.
FRANK ISZAK was a journalist at the apex of the Communist terror in Hungary when his article about the dissolution of a collective farm landed him in a uranium mine for “re-education.” He broke out but remained a fugitive with the heavily guarded borders of Hungary. In order to escape he organized a boxing team, and on their way to the regional championship they diverted their domestic flight across the Iron Curtain. Condemned to death (in absentia) he received political asylum in the West and immigrated to the U.S. He worked as a chemist, publisher, public speaker, PI and martial artist. Today, he teaches yoga in San Diego with his wife, Serpil.
“…breathing the air of freedom…”
TIME Magazine
“…it has all the elements of a blockbuster…”
San Diego Union Tribune
“…I will never forget it, neither will you!”
“…an unbelievable account of history and human tenacity, hope and fortitude…”
Readers’ responses