What was life like behind the iron curtain?
The post above (though second-hand) seems pretty ‘recognizable’ to me, although it’s about Hungary and I lived in what was then Yugoslavia. One thing to realize is that while the West portrays the Communist period in Eastern Europe as relentlessly monotone and grey, there were (and are) huge, colorful differences in the situations in each country, within the regions of each country and amongst different peoples in each country or region. So it makes a big difference which country you have in mind. I’ll ramble forever about this if I’m allowed, so let me answer your questions one by one in hopes of maintaining some structure: How much did the government control your daily life? That’s hard to answer. In Yugoslavia, in many ways, not a whole lot more than the American government does. Access to anything imported was limited, but my father had Beatles records and I had a Barbie doll. There was usually ample food and all that. I read fashion magazines as a young teenager. My father had his
