For Silvester Krcmery, each morning began with what he called an “inventory check.”
Krcmery, a doctor who described his prison cell
as so small he could not sit, recalls waking up in the bitterly cold atmosphere.
“Do I still have my nose? Because it was as cold as a frozen stone. So I check: all right, I still have my nose,” he recalls in a clip from the new docuseries, “Live Not by Lies.”
“Then the right ear—I have it. Then the left ear—I have it. Because I couldn’t feel them at all. Nor did I feel some of my fingers sometimes. And so on.”
Krcmery, a devout Catholic living in what was then Czechoslovakia, was arrested in 1951. “In 1954, the young Christian doctor told the Communist judges, who were about to sentence him for high treason: ‘You have power in your hands, but we have truth!’” writes Rod Dreher
, the author of “Live Not By Lies
,” the book that inspired the new series produced by Angel Studios.
He was not released until 1964.
Silvester Krcmery is not a name I—or most Americans, I’d wager—had ever heard of before watching “Live Not By Lies.”
But his wasn’t the only powerful story shared in the first episode of the four-part series. (Subsequent episodes will be released on a weekly basis in April.)
Krcmercy’s sister, Gabriella, shares how the family struggled to survive in Communist days, relying on soup from nuns and the one kilogram of bread a family member received for each day’s work in a military hospital
.
We hear from Patrik Benda, one of six children of Vaclav and Kamila Benda, Catholics involved
in resisting communism in Prague. Patrik Benda recalls he and his siblings being tasked by his parents to find a phone booth on the way to school and call Vaclav Havel about the Communists searching the home of an acquaintance.
Benda recalls being surprised that Havel, an ardent fighter against the Communists and later the president of the Czech Republic, merely said “yes” over and over as he heard about the search.
“Later we learned there was a policeman behind him and he was listening to everything he said,” Benda adds.
Nor was that the only unique element of the Benda kids’ lives: they also learned to swallow paper messages.
In remarks made before the documentary’s premiere April 1 at The Heritage Foundation
, Dreher, who also is executive producer, noted how little stories of heroic Communist dissenters had been covered by Hollywood.
“The Cold War, when it ended, we put it all down the memory hole. You can go on Netflix now, 100 films about Nazism—and that’s good, we need to remember that—almost nothing about communism,” Dreher said.
The lack of stories about these heroes affects our present. A 2020 poll
released by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation showed that nearly one out of five Gen Zers
thought “communism is a fairer system than capitalism and deserves consideration in America.” Furthermore, almost two-thirds of Americans weren’t aware that the Chinese Communist Party had killed more people than the Nazis.
Interspersed in the docuseries between the personal stories are interviews with historian and Daily Signal contributor Victor Davis Hanson
; author Douglas Murray; and other experts. Their commentary, paired with the narration of filmmaker Isaiah Smallman, helps relate the experiences of the Communist dissenters to today’s political troubles in the West.
Vice President JD Vance
, who spoke ahead of the documentary’s premiere, said the most important lesson was “not to conform.”
“One of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned from a dear friend of mine who helped me return to my own faith, was that despair is a sin,” said Vance
, who also spoke about his friendship with Dreher, which began when Dreher interviewed him about his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.”
“And I think that the way to survive, the way to thrive when many of these ideas are attacked, when many of our most important values are criticized or even become justification for being thrown in prison—the way to respond to it is not to conform. And that’s the most important lesson of Rod’s book,” Vance added.
The vice president continued:
The way to deal with this, the way to deal with being attacked by the ruling elites of a given society is to speak the truth, is to live not by lies.
The incentives, the financial rewards, the social benefits of living by lies [are] too often very great, but Rod’s lesson is important: that you’re going to sacrifice your soul, you’re going to sacrifice your civilization, you’re going to sacrifice your family, you’re going to sacrifice your country if you give into the easy pathway.
The first episode begins with the story of Isabel Vaughn-Spruce,
a British woman who was arrested in 2022 after acknowledging, while standing outside an abortion clinic, that she may have been silently praying. Vaughn-Spruce, represented by the legal powerhouse organization Alliance Defending Freedom, ultimately won a not guilty verdict—although she was arrested again later (that time, the charges were dropped).
But the fact that she could be arrested for essentially a thought crime in a Western country is chilling and a stark reminder that the fall of the Berlin Wall did not mean such tyranny would be absent forever from the West.
As Dreher said, “If we forget the past, we are condemned to repeat it.” This new docuseries is a chance to ensure that we don’t forget—and in remembering, do not repeat.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trent Grisham conectó dos jonrones, incluyendo uno de tres carreras para generar un racimo de seis anotaciones en la quinta entrada por los Yankees de Nueva York, quienes vencieron el sábado 10-4 a los Piratas de Pittsburgh.
Grisham desapareció la esférica contra Bailey Falter (0-1) al inicio de la tercera entrada, y lo hizo de nuevo en la quinta con un elevado que apenas pasó por encima de la cerca del jardín izquierdo.
Así, los Yankees ganaron su tercer duelo consecutivo y mejoraron a 6-2.
Paul Goldschmidt sumó tres hits por Nueva York, que ha impuesto un récord con 25 vuelacercas en ocho juegos.
El venezolano Oswald Peraza añadió dos hits y anotó dos veces, mientras que Anthony Volpe aportó también un par de imparables, incluyendo un doble que vació las bases contra Colin Holderman más tarde en la quinta entrada, ampliando la delantera de los Yankees.
Aaron Judge, quien lidera las mayores en jonrones y carreras impulsadas, conectó un sencillo en el juego número 1.001 de su carrera.
Mark Leiter Jr. (1-1) lanzó una sexta entrada sin permitir carreras por Nueva York. El abridor de los Yankees, Marcus Stroman, permitió cuatro carreras —todas en la cuarta entrada—, además de tolerar tres hits con tres bases por bolas y tres ponches, elevando su efectividad a 7.27.
Por los Yankees, el dominicano Jasson Domínguez de 5-1 con una anotada. El venezolano Peraza de 4-2 con dos anotadas.
Por los Piratas, los dominicanos Oneil Cruz de 3-1 con una anotada, Alexander Canario de 4-0, Enmanuel Valdez de 3-1 con dos impulsadas, Endy Rodríguez de 3-0 con una empujada.
Explaining the Right is a weekly series that looks at what the right wing is currently obsessing over, how it influences politics—and why you need to know.
In the last few months, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has earned a reputation for repeatedly dressing up in costumes while on the job.
Noem accompanied
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on multiple occasions, wearing a full protection vest along with perfectly applied hair and makeup. Noem also dressed the part while on a boat with the Coast Guard in March and even wore full firefighter regalia at a Coast Guard facility in Kodiak, Alaska.
Noem’s penchant for cosplay was so obvious that even the conservative Daily Mail pointed it out.
“Sec. Noem cosplays as a Border Patrol cowgirl at the southern border,” it said
alongside a video of Noem in a cowboy hat riding a horse.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is seen dressing up as a firefighter at a Coast Guard station in Kodiak, Alaska.
And she isn’t alone. Before shipping off to Greenland, Vice President JD Vance dressed in
full sniper regalia to shoot a gun and serve Marines lunch at a military base in Virginia. In a cringeworthy post, the official White House X account hailed him
for “sending some freedom seeds downrange.”
It’s not surprising, considering how much Noem and Vance’s boss loves to play dress up.
While campaigning in 2024, Trump staged
a “shift” working at a McDonald’s and served up meals to pre-selected supporters. And a few weeks later, trying to deflect from racist commentary at his rallies, Trump wore
a reflective sanitation worker vest, stumbling as he boarded a MAGA garbage truck.
Arguably, Trump’s most costumed appearance was during his stint as the host of “The Apprentice,” where he dressed up
as a competent businessman, ignoring the string of failures
that he has been involved in.
The Republican tradition goes back for years, with figures like Ronald Reagan playing cowboy
to—perhaps most disturbingly—George W. Bush and his flight suit.
Heralding the purported end of “major combat operations” in Iraq during the war in 2003, Bush dressed in a flight suit
, flying a jet that landed on the surface of an aircraft carrier. Timed months before his reelection campaign kicked off, the war did not end that year—and thousands of lives were lost after the stunt.
George W. Bush is seen wearing a flight suit in 2003.
While Republicans pose as cops, ranchers, members of the military, and other occupations, they still have little to no patience
for purported fashion misfires by Democrats. Whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s iconic pantsuits or President Barack Obama’s infamous tan suit, Democrats can do nothing right in the eyes of the GOP.
The reason for the right’s dress-up comes from a form of insecurity about the conservative political movement. Core to the movement is the desire to cut taxes for the super-rich. Multiple Republican presidents have passed these sorts of cuts, but the highly touted “trickle-down”
effect is a myth
.
A party that serves up a policy agenda meant to help
the elite has to offer some sort of distraction. Cosplay is one of many ways to make Republicans appear more blue collar and relatable. Surely if Trump dresses up like a McDonald’s worker he won’t cut middle-class jobs and benefits, right?
Wrong.
The right pursues its extremist agenda regardless, assuming that the dress-up distraction will work. And, unfortunately, it does.
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood conectó un doble de dos carreras en una primera entrada de tres carreras y Josh Bell pegó un triple por tercera vez desde 2022, ayudando el sábado a los Nacionales de Washington a vencer 4-3 a los Diamondbacks de Arizona para detener una racha de cuatro derrotas consecutivas.
Mitchell Parker (2-0) permitió una carrera, dos hits y cuatro bases por bolas en seis entradas y Kyle Finnegan consiguió su segundo salvamento, cediendo el sencillo impulsor de Thomas. El receptor Riley Adams atrapó a Thomas intentando robar la segunda base para el último out.
El segunda base Tim Tawa, llamado por Arizona tras la lesión en el tendón de la corva del dominicano Ketel Marte, tuvo uno de tres en su debut en las Grandes Ligas.
El abridor venezolano de los Diamondbacks, Eduardo Rodríguez (0-1), permitió cuatro carreras y cinco hits en cinco entradas, ponchando a 12 por primera vez desde el 14 de septiembre de 2019, para Boston contra Filadelfia.
Por los Diamondbacks, el venezolano Gabriel Moreno de 4-1 con una anotada. El mexicoamericano Alek Thomas de 4-2 con una producida.
Por los Nacionales, el dominicano Amed Rosario de 4-2 con una anotada.
___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
