Desider made a promise to keep in touch with his classmates from Prague. That was before the Iron Curtain made any contact between East and West impossible.
"My school days spent in Prague were amongst the memorable times of my life. We had a fantastic team of teachers and I was always very sorry when Friday came as it meant the end of learning for that week. Yet it wasn't just the learning that made me happy, it was the amazing spirit of friendship in the class that made it such a special time.
As the threat of war became real, my parents thought it best to leave the country and in August 1939 my family and I came to live and work in Cardiff.
It was very difficult to leave my school friends behind and I always promised myself that I would keep in touch with my classmates but it was impossible as after the war, the Iron Curtain came down and cut off any contact between East and the West.
I kept trying though and 60 years later, when the political climate in Prague had changed, my promise was realised.
I managed to get the addresses of my friends and wrote to them. The replies I received were very emotional and I attended my first reunion shortly after, where we greeted each other as brothers and sisters and where we all shed a few quiet tears.
I can tell you that 60 years play havoc with your looks and the lovely young girls and handsome young men were now old wrinklies, but it did not detract from the pleasure we found in each others' company and the spirit of friendship was still as strong as in those happy days in Prague so long ago."
Desider Golten
