Czech Pub Reminds People of Life Under Communism (Radio program)

Radio Prague ^ | 11/14/2009 | Radio Prague

[GAB-1955]

Can you no longer remember what life was like under communism? A pub in Prague 3 offers the authentic experience – grubby walls, soiled tablecloths and rude waiters! And why do some Czech children not have a name day? Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarová.

[GAB-1955]

I remember Radio Prague under communism! It was really bombastic, except for "Music for Tape Recorders".

[AlexW]

I remember my first ham radio contact with Czechoslovakia,
1958, with a doctor in Bratislava. (OK3EA)
I visited him in a nursing home a few years ago, while living in Bratislava.
He died two day later.

[null and void]

Goodness! What did you do to him???

[VeniVidiVici]

Even in East Berlin, showcase of communism, shop windows would be full of goods, but the shelves inside were bare.

A few shops that catered to foreigners would have goods (Stoly for fifty cents a bottle) or the upscale restaurants would have good food, but overall - forget it.

[Heatseeker]

I used to listen to them only briefly - they were too strong a signal to be much of a DX catch - but can still remember the interval signal. When I read your post I figured I'd be the only person who remembered this but turns out there are whole web site devoted to them: one such is www.intervalsignals.net.

[AlexW]

“Goodness! What did you do to him??? ‘

Nothing. He was quite old and had to be helped to sit up in bed, but his memory was OK.

The only way I found him was when working with an executive
in his English conversation lesson.
I was relating my story of having communicated with OK3EA, Harry, and I knew he had been written up in the national radio journal as the father of ham radio in Slovakia.
Well, my student knew him as the pediatrician for his children, and tracked down his location and arranged our visit.

[Think free or die]

I sure remember those days from visiting my family in the 1970's and 80's. I missed the even earlier period because we were not permitted to visit, and my parents couldn't have afforded it anyway. I was always sad to see how my family lived, especially the inability to travel and the ever-present fear that one would be betrayed by a neighbor or persecuted for some trumped-up political misdeed. Consumer goods were limited and expensive, but people were very resourceful. The simplest foods were prepared in tasty ways, and women were very skilled at home sewing, knitting and crochet. Small construction projects seemed to pop up in back yards, and scrounged materials were put to good use. We were always amused at the small cement mixers in people's yards. As people succeeded in liberating a few bricks, they'd do a piecemeal addition to their latest home repair or storage shed.

Border crossings were creepy, and there were lots and lots of rules to trip up unwary travelers. I remember being chewed out by a shopkeeper because I hadn't picked up a basket at the shop door. She said I wasn't permitted into the store without a basket. When I said I only needed a couple of things and could carry them without a basket, she very impatiently told me that I'd have to wait for a basket to be made available; more people weren't permitted in the store and I'd have to wait outside. So much for customer service! I was also there once on New Year's Eve and thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, I learned that the only fun was at private parties, because the pubs closed down early. As soon as they'd sold their quota for the day, they closed the doors - usually around 9pm. They partied, but not for profit. Times have changed a lot since then.

[VanShuyten]

I was in Plzen in 1982 and had a pretty good time. The beerhalls were a little rundown, but the service, patrons, food and beer were all very good, especially if one paid in dollars.

[Think free or die]

I was just in Plzn in September. It’s cleaned up and nice from what I saw.

[LIBERTARIAN JOE]

This seems like a good place to pass on this story...

Back in the early '80s, a young Czech army officer defected to the west. He emigrated to the US and settled in my area, SE Georgia.

This guy, Milan, started a construction company and eventually became fairly successful.

When the cold war ended, he waited a while to let thing settle down, and in the mid '90s took a vacation and traveled back home to the Czech Republic. He didn't have any problem with the new gov't - they made it clear that he had no claim to his old property and personal possessions, but besides that he was welcomed back by the gov't and his family.

During his next vacation, he bought an old farm. He'd travel there for vacation every year after that to rebuild the house & improve the property. He eventually employed a family member to live there & do maintenance and improvements while he was back in the states.

You can probably see where this is going - he began to notice how much better it was over there... lower cost of living, taxes just a fraction of what they are here, far less gov't intrusion in his personal life and business activities, basically just a better "quality of life" there. About 2 years ago, he sold his business and his property and moved back for good.

This sickens me, and should do the same to any other American - a hard-working, productive citizen of this nation basically defected from the US to seek personal and economic liberty in a nation that was a police state 2 decades ago.