BRIXMIS, British defence of Cold War Berlin, and Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess

  Welcome to episode 21 of Cold War Conversations Today we’re talking to Nigel Dunkley MBE a former Royal Scots Dragoon Guard, performed intelligence gathering duties in the former East Germany with BRIXMIS during the Cold War. BRIXMIS ( British Commanders’-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany) was an intelligence organisation worked throughout the Cold … Read more

Life as a Cold War East German teenager

    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 of … Read more

Eyewitness to the 1968 Prague Spring

Welcome to episode 17 of Cold War Conversations In 1968 today’s guest was 15 year old at the same school in Prague as Czech communist leader Alexander Dubček’s son. Jan Čulík provides a valuable eyewitness account of the heady days of the Prague Spring and the subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion. He provides some insightful views … Read more

Mark – A Cold War US Combat Engineer in West Germany

Before we start I’d like to say how humbled I am by the level of interest in the podcast and the kind comments from our many subscribers. If you’d like to support us further and get some extras then head over to Patreon. There’s also links on the home page of the website at www.coldwarconversations.com. … Read more

Sabine – A Cold War East German Childhood

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

The Last Days of Checkpoint Charlie

Welcome to Episode 13 of Cold War Conversations. I have always been intrigued by a video posted on Youtube filmed in the 1980s by a then young US army soldier documenting his first days in Berlin for his family back at home. Now I never dreamed that I would find, let alone talk to that … Read more

My Stasi file is as thick as a phone book

Welcome to Episode 12 of Cold War Conversations. Today’s guest is someone I’ve been trying to speak to for some time as his story is a particularly fascinating one. We’re chatting with Mark Reeder a musician and music producer who has been involved in the Berlin and international music scene since 1978, starting as Factory Records … Read more

1960s School Road Trip across the Soviet Union

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! 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. … Read more

Cloak & Dagger in Cold War Prague

Welcome to Episode 9 of Cold War Conversations. Mark Baker is an independent journalist and travel writer who’s lived in Central Europe for more than two decades. I heartily recommend his travel website www.markbakerprague.com which is an eclectic mix of stories about his adopted hometown of Prague and stories from when Central Europe was the “Eastern … Read more

Cold War Berlin and Signals Intelligence

  Welcome to Episode 2 of Cold War Conversations where we start with a fascinating eyewitness account of Berlin during the Cold War. Michael  lived in Berlin as a child of US Airforce personnel in the 1960s and 70s and then subsequently joined the US Airforce himself and worked in Signals Intelligence during the 1980s. … Read more