Ranks of perfectly coordinated dancers put on a show ranging from the seriously martial – women soldiers of the Korean People’s Army using tae-kwon-do blows to make mincemeat of “Yankee invaders” – to the seriously absurd – lines of dancing eggs and barnyard animals.
Communism
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.
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.
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.
The Hitler-Stalin Pact Still Divides Setuland
You won’t find it on any map, but Setuland really does exist. The place is inhabited by the Setus, an agrarian people who have distinguished themselves as singers of marathon epics about their legendary king and fertility god, Peko.
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.
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.
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.
Budapest Revisits its Recent Horrors
Few residents would disagree that Budapest’s newest museum, the House of Terror, is haunted. But the ghosts of a turbulent history have not been put to rest.
