In conversation with those that experienced the Cold War and those who are fascinated
Hans de Vreij is a Dutch journalist who has worked in Berlin , Brussels, Geneva and Prague. Whilst working at the United Nations in Geneva Hans was the subject of attempted recruitment by the KGB to develop an ‘agent of influence’ to disseminate Soviet points of view. In addition, they analysed the ‘targeted journalist’ in … Read more The KGB tried to recruit me
Charlie Flowers was 18 in 1988. He travelled by train across a divided Eastern Europe that was starting to show signs of the changes that manifested themselves in 1989. He shares stories of the interesting encounters he had along the way. Now I’d like to thank some of our recent 5 star reviewers in … Read more Railway Encounters in Eastern Europe
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 A Childhood at the Hungarian Border with Austria
Today we’re talking to Alison Lewis, a professor in German at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of several books, including one in German about love and gender in literature during Germany’s reunification and a book in German about the Stasi’s infiltration of the literary underground. We spoke to Alison in episode 71. … Read more 75 – Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe
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 52- László Nagy – A Hungarian Life