Prague residents surround Soviet tanks in front of the Czechoslovak Radio station building in central Prague during the first day of Soviet-led invasion to then Czechoslovakia on Aug. 21, 1968. Banner reads: "Entry forbidden to unauthorized personnel." (Libor Hajsky/Reuters)
A journalist behind the Iron Curtain
How Iva Drapalova reported for the AP in Czechoslovakia between the Prague Spring and 1989.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — “I never intended to be a journalist and I certainly knew nothing about Associated Press,” said Iva Drapalova. “I was absolutely surprised to hear it was the biggest press agency in the world.”
Thus, a career was born in the aftermath of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. For the next 20 years Drapalova waged a...
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