The Underground Reporters

A remarkable story of courage and resistance during WWII, when a group of young Jewish people in a village in Czechoslovakia created a secret newspaper. What began as a way of keeping in touch with friends with poems, photos and jokes became a powerful means of uniting a community. Klepy, the Czech word for ‘gossip’, was first produced in 1940, a single copy circulated among the Jewish families. Soon it became a lifeline for the adults as freedom and privileges were taken away. One of the young reporters was John Freund, who was deported to concentration camp in 1942, like many of his friends. One of the few survivors, he told his story to Kathy Kacer, who has translated it into an extraordinary tale of hope and survival.