Alexander – A Conscript in the Soviet Navy

  Alexander ‘Sasha’ Goncharov was born in Leningrad but early in this life moved to Ukraine.  After leaving school he was drafted into the Soviet Military and was based in Sevastopol where he worked in Naval Aviation servicing anti-ship weapons systems.  At the end of this period, Sasha decided to stay in the military to … Read more

Gillian – A US Student at the opening of the Berlin Wall

  Gillian Cox visited the GDR as a student in October 1989 just before the Wall came down. In this episode you will hear her eyewitness of account of what she saw ion that momentous night of 9th November 1989. Before we start the episode I wanted to thanks everyone who is supporting the podcast … Read more

The Opening of the Berlin Wall

Our interview today is in a different format. Cold war Conversations is working with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall. We will be capturing personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which will later become part of the podcast. Therefore, this episode is a composite of previous … Read more

The opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989

    Cold War Conversations worked with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. We captured new  personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which later became part of the podcast. You can enjoy all the … Read more

The Berlin Wall – Frederick Taylor

James spoke with Fred Taylor, a historian who has written several books on Germany, about his book ’The Berlin Wall 1961 – 1989’ which will shortly be reprinted to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of The Wall.  James and Fred spoke about the origins of The Wall and the division of Germany and … Read more

British Forces in Germany: The Lived Experience 1945-2019

Dr Peter Johnston is the Head of Collections Research and Academic Access at the National Army Museum in London and the author of a lavishly illustrated military and social history of the British forces in Germany during the Cold War. < Now if you like the podcast you can help to support us  for the ... Read more

Dean Reed, the Red Elvis, a US music star behind the Iron Curtain – Episode 2

Ramona Reed continues the story of her father who was Dean Reed an American actor, singer and songwriter, director, and Socialist who became a huge star in Latin America and the Eastern Bloc. The previous episode is available here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode97/ Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Now if you like the podcast … Read more

Alastair Witnesses the Wende

Alastair took up a teaching post in Halle, East Germany in August 1989 and continued to work in Halle for the next 9 years, seeing the unravelling of the GDR first hand. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! He arrived just in time to see the early protests and the … Read more