Direct Experiences living in Self-Proclaimed "Communist" States

[hekmatista]

Obviously no one person's life reveals the true nature of such states, but the lived experience of comrades who've been there is at least part of the data necessary in evaluating the record of the Eastern Bloc and elsewhere. I thought of this after reading a post by the new comrade from Romania, "El Commandate(sic)" and others who have lived under what used to be called "actually existing socialism."
My own experience is limited to passing through Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1969. I would like to hear some of the comrades describe life as they lived it in such countries.

[Marc Gossett]

Although I am American, and so cannot speak from personal experience, I have met many people whose experiences are singularly negative. What more could one expect? Especially for Eastern Europeans- they were puppet states of Stalinist Russia! For Russians, as the polls attest, there is a certain nostalgia for the USSR because of Russian nationalism and the fact of the disaster of its dissolution and the following period. Like the Anti-Communist legacy in the west, the built up Stalinist and subsequent attestations that Eastern Bloc people's unsatisfactory lives under Stalinism was "actually existing socialism" needs to countered with intensive exposures of Capitalism and Stalinism for what they are and reaffirmation of genuine Socialism.

[Andres Marcos]

Slavyanski has showed us photos of Russian WW2 vets who lived in the ML USSR. Not sure if that counts, we also know a nice Albanian communist who is going to help us finding more PPSH and Hoxha books.

[hekmatista]

The fact that I enclosed it in quotes may indicate what I think of "actually existing socialism." Still waiting for some direct testimony, not hearsay, though.

[Devrim]

I worked at a car factory in central Europe for a while. Though I don't have any direct experiences myself, I obviously met and talked to many people who had.

Our comrades there are all quite young and remember it only as children.

Devrim

[Kwisatz Haderach]

Well, I was born in Romania under Ceausescu, but I was still only a child in 1989, so my direct experience of the Eastern Bloc is limited to a child's impressions. I have testimonies from my parents and relatives, though. As far as my parents' impressions are concerned, they are rather well balanced - my mother hated it, while my father rather liked it.

There is a distinct generational gap that needs to be mentioned: On the whole, people who lived through WW2 (those born in the 1940s and earlier) have positive impressions of "actually existing socialism." Their opinions usually range from enthusiastic support to vague nostalgia, but, interestingly, I have not met a single person who lived through WW2 and who opposes "actually existing socialism" for any other reason than nationalism. That is to say, even though there are some opponents in these generations, they are few and their opposition is always of the nationalistic "those damn Russians ruling over us" sort. I'm not sure why there is such a high level of support for "actually existing socialism" among these older generations. I'm guessing it's because they had first-hand experience of pre-1945 capitalism and know how bad it was.

On the other hand, people born in the 50s or 60s tend to have much more negative views of "actually existing socialism." There are few supporters in this generation, and their opinions usually range from ambivalence to outright hatred of the system. I'm guessing it's because they were young - in their 20s and 30s - at the peak of Ceausescu's madness in the 1980s, so they harbor resentment towards his regime for effectively robbing them of their youth.

People born in the 1970s and later generally either share the views of their parents, or, more often, have no opinion at all. Communists like me are rare in this generation, but serious anti-communists are equally rare.