As someone who stood a post in BAOR in the late 80's, and looked daily at East German troops across the Inner German border, thank you for reminding people as to how it was.
as someone born in the 90's its your doing a public service my history teachers never had the time or resources to do thank you for all that you do for history
Thank you for the footage of Finnish-Soviet barter trade, a rare example of economic co-operation documented still more rarely. As a practical example of what was pejoratively referred to as 'Finlandisation' whereby Finland took precautions to make sure that the USSR had no cause to complain, the attention to detail enabled people to be productive who would otherwise have struggled to find work in Finland. In the context of developments since 1991 and 2022 in the Russian Federation while Finland joined the EU in 1995 and NATO in 2023, it may be that neighbours are still further apart.
Things have indeed improved: Not long ago I was out hiking and happened to pass a sign "Here was the internal German border". 100 m or so later I passed the crumbling remains of a watchtower but that is all there was left...
And so of course, the Iron Curtain was at last to disappear in 1989, although no-one knew that at the time this was filmed in 1983 of course. The two Germanies were re-united and people were free to cross at long last too. Thank you!!
Yeah, I went to West Germany on a school trip in 1987. Visiting 'West Germany' will hopefully be something that no person will ever be able to do again.
really fascinating stuff! but OMG the music going WAH WAH WAH just drove me bananas....is that because of the degradation of the tape? like is it fixable or too much work? i have so many questions...
I wonder where these people are now, if they are around of course? Also, I wonder what the views of these border crossings are like now then compared to then? Thank you!
They keep mentioning détente so I think this was filmed in 1978 or 1979. Détente was dead after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and tensions were very high in 1983.
@@BB-kt5eb Not true, watch soap opera episodes of something like Dallas in the late 70s and this was still very much the style back then, as it certainly was here in Western Europe. The more hip teens might have already adopted narrower pants by 1979 but largely people still continued with the 70s fashion up until 1982 or so.
The web of lies didn't win back then, and I don't think it will succeed now. In fact, now we don't have Marxism-Leninism anymore, but Trumpism-Putinism instead.
The US is a gigantic socialist paradise for the ultra wealthy. So it depends through which lens you want to judge. Nobody in the US is advocating for a Soviet style system. In fact, most people don't even know what Socialism or Communism is.
At 30:48 there's a blurred four digit year, and I'm pretty sure the 3rd digit is 8. Just before it fades, it clarifies a bit, and the 4th digit looks like a 0
No one in the West forces us to look at porn or spend extravagantly. Why not discipline yourself instead of allowing the government to shield you from yourself?
An iron curtain to keep its people in…its as simple as that…growing up during the Cold War I never imagined these structures, and that communisms would fall. NEVER forget
La mayoría de las personas que vivieron esa época te lo van a decir!!! Y no por eso vas invalidar lo que dicen, lógicamente tendrían sus razones!!! La mayoría argumentan la seguridad que tenían, tanto en salud, como en educación, como en lo laboral!!! Lo político no invalida esas cosas, y como cada sistema ideológico tiene sus pro y sus contras!!! Se apoyaban mucho en la vida social, en el compañerismo, en la igualdad!!! No en el racismo!!! Las mujeres verdaderamente eran tratadas de igual manera que los hombres y de hecho trabajan en fábricas de acuerdo a su capacidad y no por cupos, y no por pertenecer a un movimiento feminista, o por militar la ley de aborto, o por la ideología de género que proponen!!! En fin, era otra sociedad!!!! Repito cada ideología tiene sus PRO y sus CONTRAS!!! Y una cosa no invalida la otra!!! En Cuba no hay comunismo, es más nunca lo hubo, en Cuba como en toda América Latina hay POPULISMOS!!!! Y nada tiene que ver una cosa con la otra!!!
@@ivobarIls ont construit ce mur pour se protéger du revanchisme allemand et surtout pour préserver leur modèle de société qui offre un niveau de vie et un confort qui mérite d'être préservé coûte que coûte.
I was born in russia in the early 90s and am always nostalgic about these times.. Especially since my fam moved out to Canada in 2000.. We are very wealthy in Canada now, especially my dad. Owns many houses in Vancouver. However, he is much less happy than he was growing up poor in the beautiful USSR.
I´ve never heard of anyone risking being shot, jumping the wall/fence to go East !!! Absolutely all of them risked it all to go West towards freedom. You romantic nostalgic people of the CCCP should move to Russia NOW!! And even better volunteer to fight in Ukraine!
@@agustinenzoa4447 But everything is muchhhh more cheaper so no problemo. And at least in those country they are not poor on Traditions, Culture, Principles, History, Religon and something West don’t have Honor ! Only money , no thank you .
USSR was a physical prison , US is a mental Prison Both Illusions of freedom , but at least one system had the goal to accomplish something good but the idea did not succeed
@@StayBasedJesus I think the mental chains are breaking in the US. It freaks the government out as they are losing control of the population. The US is in itself starting to show aspects of the soviet Union. There's a kind of Maoist cultural revolution going on where insanity has become a virtue. The FBI might become the NKVD. The people in the US government are enfeebled snobs where they mess every thing up
@@aaronwilkinson8963 yea I’m in favor of communism or at least some aspect of it but have to say , I did favor Trump more then the other globalist who are in power Right now. These people just lies and hides under mask after mask l, they act like they care for human rights .. Trump did not invade and interfere in our countries ( for now at least) and did not promote sick behavior like these pride organizations. In communist Bulgaria , they would be able to have Pride Parades In mental hospitals 🏥
@@StayBasedJesus USSR was also a mental prison, like Russia. And the good intentions in the USSR? which where the means to reach them? a gulag system? dictatorship? censorship? no freedom of movement inside or aoutside the USSR? no independent journalism? Sure, I guess the hell is surely made of good intentions.
This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.
As someone who stood a post in BAOR in the late 80's, and looked daily at East German troops across the Inner German border, thank you for reminding people as to how it was.
as someone born in the 90's its your doing a public service my history teachers never had the time or resources to do thank you for all that you do for history
And honestly these films need to be shown in colleges more.
Thank you for the footage of Finnish-Soviet barter trade, a rare example of economic co-operation documented still more rarely. As a practical example of what was pejoratively referred to as 'Finlandisation' whereby Finland took precautions to make sure that the USSR had no cause to complain, the attention to detail enabled people to be productive who would otherwise have struggled to find work in Finland. In the context of developments since 1991 and 2022 in the Russian Federation while Finland joined the EU in 1995 and NATO in 2023, it may be that neighbours are still further apart.
I grew up in Czechoslovakia. Thank you for sharing this.
Things have indeed improved: Not long ago I was out hiking and happened to pass a sign "Here was the internal German border". 100 m or so later I passed the crumbling remains of a watchtower but that is all there was left...
Thank you so much for sharing this. It's fascinating.
Thank you for this, it is most interesting all round.
And so of course, the Iron Curtain was at last to disappear in 1989, although no-one knew that at the time this was filmed in 1983 of course. The two Germanies were re-united and people were free to cross at long last too. Thank you!!
at 13:51 the man is speaking hungarian, not czech. "Rozi, haló, gyere ide." Rosie, hey, come here!
During the 1980's when I grew up it was East and West Germany until it became united Germany in the 1990's.
Yeah, I went to West Germany on a school trip in 1987. Visiting 'West Germany' will hopefully be something that no person will ever be able to do again.
really fascinating stuff! but OMG the music going WAH WAH WAH just drove me bananas....is that because of the degradation of the tape? like is it fixable or too much work?
i have so many questions...
Wow one I hadn’t seen yet how cool!
I wonder where these people are now, if they are around of course? Also, I wonder what the views of these border crossings are like now then compared to then? Thank you!
Thank you!
I love it how it’s 1983 and the Germans are still wearing bell-bottom jeans and wide collar shirts from the early 1970’s and late 1960’s.
They keep mentioning détente so I think this was filmed in 1978 or 1979. Détente was dead after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and tensions were very high in 1983.
@@Ingsoc75
That’s still behind the times because bell bottoms and wide collar shirts went out of style around 1976 in the west.
@@BB-kt5eb Not true, watch soap opera episodes of something like Dallas in the late 70s and this was still very much the style back then, as it certainly was here in Western Europe. The more hip teens might have already adopted narrower pants by 1979 but largely people still continued with the 70s fashion up until 1982 or so.
@@Fritha71
Many people still wore a lot of that stuff in the late 70’s, but it was on its way out and by 1983, no one was wearing that stuff anymore.
@Fritha71 Disco was king in the late 70's, bell bottoms were still very common
Something from Finland as well.....nice dokument.
This was great. My best friend grew up bitterly in the Soviet Union and now has to witness people advocating this form of government in America.
The web of lies didn't win back then, and I don't think it will succeed now. In fact, now we don't have Marxism-Leninism anymore, but Trumpism-Putinism instead.
Another "victim" preaching anti-communism. I know that kind.
The US is a gigantic socialist paradise for the ultra wealthy. So it depends through which lens you want to judge. Nobody in the US is advocating for a Soviet style system. In fact, most people don't even know what Socialism or Communism is.
What year was this made?
1983
@@ivobar Must be a bit earlier, as in 1983 there was no Détente anymore but a new armsrace. It more looks like 1978/79.
@@Orvieta okay, thanks for the information
At 30:48 there's a blurred four digit year, and I'm pretty sure the 3rd digit is 8. Just before it fades, it clarifies a bit, and the 4th digit looks like a 0
They mention our president in Finland being Kekkonen and he stepped down in 1981 due to illness so this was made at least before 1982.
Really good documentary. Same for the Romanian-Yugoslav border, except only the border guards either shot or beat you.
Looking at the comment section I think nostalgia has taken over in some cases. People forget how many thousands were killed trying to escape the east
Was there in the 80’s. What a great time
People in the USSR/Russia vote with THERE FEET,(leaving country,)
Pourtant, il y a toujours des habitants dans se pays.Ca veut dire que l'on y vit pas aussi que semble le dire la propagande occidentale.
7:28 Harry Potter and the Guardians of Democracy?
who is the Romanian guy?
good old days
if you lived in the West it sure was!!
@@agustinenzoa4447 that depends if you cared about jeans, porn and giant shopping malls, then yes.
@@Illopportunity248 or if you care about freedom at all.
No one in the West forces us to look at porn or spend extravagantly. Why not discipline yourself instead of allowing the government to shield you from yourself?
maybe it was no food or clothing, there were more than plenty of lenins.
An iron curtain to keep its people in…its as simple as that…growing up during the Cold War I never imagined these structures, and that communisms would fall. NEVER forget
Communism didn’t fall, just communism in Europe
I've argued with people who genuinely believe that East Germany was this social haven of happiness and equality.
thats why they had to build all those walls amirite
tell them to move to cuba, venezuela or N Korea with and make due with a local avarage salary!!!
La mayoría de las personas que vivieron esa época te lo van a decir!!!
Y no por eso vas invalidar lo que dicen, lógicamente tendrían sus razones!!!
La mayoría argumentan la seguridad que tenían, tanto en salud, como en educación, como en lo laboral!!!
Lo político no invalida esas cosas, y como cada sistema ideológico tiene sus pro y sus contras!!!
Se apoyaban mucho en la vida social, en el compañerismo, en la igualdad!!!
No en el racismo!!!
Las mujeres verdaderamente eran tratadas de igual manera que los hombres y de hecho trabajan en fábricas de acuerdo a su capacidad y no por cupos, y no por pertenecer a un movimiento feminista, o por militar la ley de aborto, o por la ideología de género que proponen!!!
En fin, era otra sociedad!!!!
Repito cada ideología tiene sus PRO y sus CONTRAS!!!
Y una cosa no invalida la otra!!!
En Cuba no hay comunismo, es más nunca lo hubo, en Cuba como en toda América Latina hay POPULISMOS!!!!
Y nada tiene que ver una cosa con la otra!!!
@@ivobarIls ont construit ce mur pour se protéger du revanchisme allemand et surtout pour préserver leur modèle de société qui offre un niveau de vie et un confort qui mérite d'être préservé coûte que coûte.
I was born in russia in the early 90s and am always nostalgic about these times.. Especially since my fam moved out to Canada in 2000.. We are very wealthy in Canada now, especially my dad. Owns many houses in Vancouver. However, he is much less happy than he was growing up poor in the beautiful USSR.
I miss the USSR in the 80s. I enjoyed life more back then.
@@SnarkyRC yea like my family to in Bulgaria during soviet times, they think money is everything
I´ve never heard of anyone risking being shot, jumping the wall/fence to go East !!!
Absolutely all of them risked it all to go West towards freedom.
You romantic nostalgic people of the CCCP should move to Russia NOW!! And even better volunteer to fight in Ukraine!
Go live there BUT with a standard russian salary.
Or give Cuba a chance since its coloser, and make due with 1.5usd a day! Kiss in the forehead.
@@agustinenzoa4447 But everything is muchhhh more cheaper so no problemo.
And at least in those country they are not poor on Traditions, Culture, Principles, History, Religon and something West don’t have Honor !
Only money , no thank you .
That's apparently what Putin wants
USSR was a giant prison.
USSR was a physical prison , US is a mental Prison
Both Illusions of freedom , but at least one system had the goal to accomplish something good but the idea did not succeed
@@StayBasedJesus I think the mental chains are breaking in the US. It freaks the government out as they are losing control of the population. The US is in itself starting to show aspects of the soviet Union. There's a kind of Maoist cultural revolution going on where insanity has become a virtue. The FBI might become the NKVD. The people in the US government are enfeebled snobs where they mess every thing up
@@aaronwilkinson8963 yea I’m in favor of communism or at least some aspect of it but have to say , I did favor Trump more then the other globalist who are in power Right now. These people just lies and hides under mask after mask l, they act like they care for human rights ..
Trump did not invade and interfere in our countries ( for now at least) and did not promote sick behavior like these pride organizations.
In communist Bulgaria , they would be able to have Pride Parades
In mental hospitals 🏥
@@StayBasedJesus USSR was also a mental prison, like Russia. And the good intentions in the USSR? which where the means to reach them? a gulag system? dictatorship? censorship? no freedom of movement inside or aoutside the USSR? no independent journalism? Sure, I guess the hell is surely made of good intentions.
the 21st century has a new leader in socialism of all countries. the people’s republic of china.
they are really backwards!!!!!!
Wasn't this what Donald Trump was going to build?
to keep people out of the country... not INSIDE the country - big difference 😉
@@ivobar, I.E restricting the movement of P.o.C, not white people.
Democrats want build a wall around New York City
@@ivobar yeah right you keep on believing that
@@homesteadingtennesseeriver569 who is it meant to keep inside then?
The real terrible days in Berlin in the east which we must never forget.
0:50 the woman on the left is asking for VAR? Stockley Park have reviewed it and decided building the wall was a foul
I wad in the Army in 76 to 79. Was there in 77 2nd Armor 1st cav.out of FT Hood TX