On the latest episode of VOC’s Witness Project conversation series, Profiles In Freedom, Amb. Andrew Bremberg sits down with Chinese dissident, American activist, author, and survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution Xi Van Fleet to explore China’s dissent into communism, the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party, and one survivor’s heroic story of the pursuit of liberty.

It’s 1959 and Fidel Castro has taken over Cuba, Overnight, life on the beautiful island will never be the same. A young boy, Maximo Alvarez, along with thousands of other Cuban children, is quietly sent by his parents to Florida, in hopes that he will be protected from the chaos of revolution. Today on the Witness Project Podcast, Max talks about his experience with the Pedro Pan Operation and how he has achieved the American Dream. 

VOC highlights the tragic and powerful stories of victims of communism through our award-winning Witness Project video and podcast series. Today, we are proud to present the newest episode of the Witness Project Podcast, featuring Rep. Ben Toma, who represents the people of Arizona after escaping communist surveillance in Ceaușescu’s Romania.  After communists took power in Romania, Ben Toma’s family land was confiscated by the regime. The communist secret police, the Securitate, would eventually surveil the Toma home and daily lives because of their religious faith. Fearing for the safety of their children, Toma’s parents escaped communism in 1986 — it would be a year before Ben and his three siblings would join their parents in the United States.

Today, Rep. Ben Toma is Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. His experience under the Ceaușescu regime taught him the consequences of communism and the importance of freedom.

On July 27, 1953, an armistice is signed, ending fighting in the Korean War. The Korean Peninsula is divided into North Korea and South Korea at the 38th parallel, also known as the DMZ. The Korean Peninsula is split into what will become two very different countries. South Korea will grow into a flourishing economic hub while North Korea plunges into darkness and famine, a result of the communist Kim dynasty. Over the years, many try to escape North Korea, across the 38th parallel or at different points along the North Korean and Chinese border. This is the story of Grace Jo, a North Korean defector, who fled the Kim regime not once, but three times.

It’s 1954 and a child is born in Soviet-occupied Lithuania. Joseph Stalin has died just a few months prior, leaving behind a legacy of brutality, starvation, and oppression throughout the Soviet Union. Born into a Jewish family, in Lithuania’s capitol city of Vilnius, this young boy will soon experience the disappointments and struggles of life under communism, simply because of his class and his religion.

This is the testimony of Boris Hoffman, a witness of communism from the Soviet Union, who was determined to succeed, defying the constraints of Soviet society and building for himself a future free from the obstacles and discrimination of his youth.

The year is 1989 and a group of 13 people are out on the open ocean in a small fishing boat, miles away from the shoreline. They have encountered pirates, storms, and sustained injuries, and have yet to see any signs of land. The group is made up of men and women, both young and old, including a pregnant mother and two young children. The people on board have escaped Vietnam, risking their lives on the sea, to find their freedom in another country, any country, free from Communism. What drove them to this perilous decision and a brush with almost certain death? Joining us today is Vi Kha Hoang, a witness of communism in Ho Chi Minh’s Vietnam. He survived the journey on that boat and he joins us today to talk about life in Vietnam under communism and his daring bid for freedom. He now lives in the United States with his family and teaches young Vietnamese Americans about the trials that his generation went through.