When Poland flings open its western border to the EU, the back door to the east will slam shut, leaving Belarus and Ukraine in a geopolitical gray zone.
New Europe
Everybody in the West used to assume the countries behind the Iron Curtain were little copies of the Soviet Union, with sausage shortages, tank parades and unbeatable women’s weightlifting teams.
I backpacked across the former East Blocs the summer after the Berlin Wall came down. After college, I taught English in a Czech school, traveling to Slovakia to witness Czechoslovakia’s peaceful dissolution in 1993. I hung out with journalists in smoky cafes and dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent.
Today a generation is coming of age that learned about communism in history class. But New Europe is in no danger of getting old.
Years After Death, a US East-Bloc Rocker May Have Revival
In his day, he was known as “Red Elvis,” the most popular American entertainer from East Berlin to Vladivostok. Now, 30 years after he took the communist world by storm, mention of Dean Reed in central Europe evokes little more than snickers or shrugs.
Roma Battle Stereotypes, Seek Political Unity
“It is a growing trend for young, educated Roma to keep their identity. This is very helpful for the rest of the community. They are people to be proud of.”
Transylvanian Town Sees Gold in Dracula Land
For centuries, Sighisoara has slumbered in the heart of Transylvania. Now the Romanian government has decided to capitalize on the region’s most infamous son.
Dreams of Grandeur in Latitude and Longitude
The Institut Geographique National in France determined that an unassuming hill in Lithuania, and not Paris, was the center of Europe.
Czech Students’ Lessons on Nazi-Era Ethnic Hatred
As Jaroslav Klenovsky approached his shattered hometown, he encountered a sight that remains seared in his memory. Armed young men were escorting thousands of women, children, and elderly people out of the city. The German population of Brno was being expelled.
Baltics Look Longingly at NATO
A local politician once compared Lithuania’s move to join the alliance to the extravagant wishes of a poor man to wear a fur coat.
New Wall Splits Roma from ‘White’ Czechs
Barely 7 feet high and painted in pale yellow and brown, the wall along Maticni Street has been condemned as a “wall of shame” that is drawing new dividing lines 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
World’s Busiest Shopping Street? Think Warsaw
From the drabness of a socialist command economy, Poland has burst into a sophisticated consumer culture in less than a decade.
East German Kitsch Now a Collector’s Item
It is hard to explain the appeal of the mysterious white cylinder, about four feet tall, sealed with a blue vinyl covering. The unwieldy home appliance, which East German engineers designed as a “portable sauna,” is one of the main attractions at a Berlin exhibit.
