The award-winning podcast preserving the stories of the Cold War before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
It’s 1966 in Berlin and the city has now been divided for 5 years by an almost impenetrable wall erected by the communist German Democratic Republic. West German student Volker Heinz joins a group looking for ways to help would-be fugitives escape from East to West. Their search ends at Checkpoint Charlie, the most … Read more
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! We continue Steffen’s story where he tells of serving in three armies – firstly, the NVA, secondly the East German Army between the first free elections and unification, and finally the unified Bundeswehr. Listen to his previous episode here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode286/ We start the … Read more
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! Steffen was born in Karl Marx Stadt and was conscripted into the NVA (East German Army) in 1988. When he left school he started an apprenticeship in electronics learning how to build radio receivers at REMA, a then-famous producer of HiFi equipment. Steffen … Read more
In 1990, a country disappeared. When the Iron Curtain fell, East Germany simply ceased to be. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! For over forty years, from the ruin of the Second World War to the cusp of a new millennium, the GDR presented a radically different German identity to … Read more
We return to Dirk’s story from episode 278 with a move to East Berlin following his mother’s divorce from his father. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! Dirk finds school life more relaxed where pupils are allowed to wear Western clothing and to speak more openly, even questioning their teachers about the … Read more
Dirk lived in the town of Bernau about 15 miles from East Berlin. Just outside Bernau was Wandlitz the residential estate of the East German leadership. As a result, Bernau had one of the highest densities of Stasi facilities in East Germany. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! Dirk shares … Read more
Warning: This episode does cover the subject of suicide. If you need help please use these links: UK https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ Rest of the World https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Dean Reed was an American actor, singer and songwriter, director, and Socialist who became a huge star in Latin America and the Eastern Bloc. … Read more
In 1981 Marie-Claude Hawkes was an 18-year-old living in Amiens, France when she embarked on a trip to East Germany looking for adventure… Among her experiences was working in a lignite coal mine. Lignite is considered the lowest rank of coal and the most harmful coal to human health but was a major fuel source … Read more
Marie-Claude Hawkes continues her story with her return to Berlin in 1985 as a French teaching assistant at the Havel School RAF Gatow, teaching French and taking part in school activities in West and East Berlin. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! Between September 86 and August 87 Marie-Claude … Read more
Part 2, or a two part recording. Part 1 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode268 Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! In October of 2022, I was asked by the West Pennines Military Vehicle Trust to moderate a Q&A session with a number of BRIXMIS veterans. Attending were Drivers Neil Walton, Pete Curran, Dave … Read more