The award-winning #podcast preserving the stories of the #ColdWar before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
Balint grew up in Hungary right next to the border with Austria. Part of his family escaped in 1956 and went to Australia. Balint’s grandfather survived 4 years in a Gulag camp Would you like a CWC Coaster? It’s easy, sign up to Patreon and for the price of a couple of coffees a … Read more
In 1986 GDR student Antje met a British guy who was installing sewing machines in of the hosiery companies in East Germany. Unusually he was given quite a bit of freedom to socialise locally and he eventually asked Antje to marry him. However, with her prospective husband being a citizen of the capitalist … Read more
Todays episode is different, the interviewer is not me, but one of our listeners who contacted me to help produce content for the podcast. This gave me the idea for a new area of the podcast called “Cold War Contributions” where listeners can send in audio interviews for broadcast on the show. Email me … Read more
(1)When I was 12 years old TEST IAN I was 12 years old in 1956 when the revolution in Hungary took place in September. The Hungarians wanted to be free from Soviet domination. At that time – no television yet – we would listen to the radio for the news. We were hearing of the … Read more
Today’s episode is a bonus episode celebrating our 50th episode which came out on 23rd Feb 2019. I honestly never thought we’d get this far, but it’s thanks to you the listener. Your feedback and kind comments keep me going and I am delighted we appear to be keeping your interest after almost a … Read more
László Nagy was one of the early members of the Hungarian Democratic Forum in 1987. The HDF became Hungary’s largest political party following first free elections in 1990. In this episode we hear the story of his parent’s life in 1950’s Hungary and László’s early life including how he ended up at … Read more
Today we’re talking to Antje Arnold, author of “The Girl Behind The Wall” which tells the story of a girl growing up in East Germany in the 1980s. Now keep your finger away from the fast forward button for a minute. Hopefully some of you may noticed the improvement in sound quality on … Read more
Welcome to episode 20 of Cold War Conversations. Today we’re talking to Anke Holst was born in the GDR during the 1970s in Rostock. Anke has returned to Rostock after many years abroad and now provides tours of GDR sites in Rostock. Our conversation highlights how different life was in the provinces … Read more
Welcome to Episode 15 of Cold War Conversations. Today we speak to Sabine who was 13 when the Wall opened. We hear about her childhood in East Germany and gain great insight into life at the time, the pressures on her family and her first steps into West Berlin. I found Sabine’s story very personal … Read more
Welcome to Episode 10 of Cold War Conversations. Today we’re moving away from the GDR and Czechoslovakia to the Soviet Union. Jeremy Poynton was a 16 year old school boy in 1968 when he embarked on a memorable trip by road from Leningrad to Odessa. He vividly describes a Soviet Union still struggling with poverty and … Read more