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Category Archives: Cold War
Why is German reunification celebrated on 3 October?
Today, Germany celebrates the 30th anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany on 3 October 1990. The history buffs among you will know that the Berlin Wall fell almost a year earlier, on 9 November 1989. So why … Continue reading
Posted in Cold War, Germany, History, Holocaust
Tagged Berlin, Berlin Wall, German history, Hitler, Nazis
19 Comments
Hiiumaa, the real Adventure Island
Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Berichts. I have been on lots of islands, some of them far away like Australia or Easter Island. After paying a lot and polluting heaps of air to get there, I was wondering if it’s really … Continue reading
Posted in Cold War, Estonia, History, Military, Photography, Travel
Tagged Hiiumaa, sea, Soviet Union
14 Comments
The Iron Curtain and Freedom of Travel
When I was in Transnistria, I had to go to the immigration office to obtain a tourism permit that would allow me to stay in the country beyond the 48-hour visa that I had picked up at the train station. … Continue reading
Posted in Cold War, History, Transnistria, Travel
Tagged Soviet Union, Tiraspol, Yugoslavia
14 Comments
Ceaușescu in North Korea
When I lived in Romania, some people said about the long-term dictator, who was overthrown in 1989: “You know, in the beginning, Ceaușescu was not even that bad. After he came to power in 1965, he distanced Romania from the … Continue reading
Posted in Cold War, Economics, History, Music, North Korea, Politics, Romania, Travel
16 Comments
East Germany and West Germany, seen from the outside
In the old days, before Erasmus, academic exchanges were still complicated: visa, health insurance, exchanging money. And then there was no internet, so you couldn’t start looking for accommodation before the move. The first week was usually spent at a hotel, … Continue reading
Eastern Germany, the unknown Germany
The headline is not universally true, of course, but merely a reference to my own limited experience. But let me tell you how I came to it. Last winter, when I lived in Montenegro, I met a woman who was either … Continue reading
Germany 1945-1949
These two films illustrate – with quite drastic footage, you are warned – what the Allied powers thought of Germany immediately after the end of World War II. They did see, correctly in my view, a continuity of German militarism … Continue reading
Random Thoughts (12)
If you have doubts about humanity, listen to this podcast about a hospital in Israel treating wounded and sick Syrians. I wouldn’t have thought that many people read articles as long as the one about my decision to return to … Continue reading
Pardon me!
When laws change, people who were once convicted as criminals are (sometimes) pardoned. We often find that just and necessary, like in the case of those convicted of homosexual acts when this was still a crime (which isn’t all that … Continue reading
How one translator opened Romania to the world
Posted in Cinema, Cold War, History, Language, Romania
Tagged censorship, Cinema, Media, movies
3 Comments
The Happy Hermit 