View of Litovel, Czecholoslovakia from the Straznicky home, c. 1968

photo: courtesy of the Straznicky family

At the time, Ivan worked as a patent officer in the small town of Litovel in Moravia, while Marta cared for their five children. When the tanks rolled down Litovel's small streets, drowning out their Sunday church service, the Straznickys knew that life would never be the same.