Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times6 Aug 2021

A workers view of Poland from Łódź in 1986 (191)

Evan McGilvray has written a number of books on Poland as well as biographies. He is well versed in Poland and Polish society and away from the usual locations of Krakow and Warsaw. Evan first visited Poland in 1986, 5 years after the declaration of martial law which triggered the suppression of the free trade union Solidarity in December 1981. He visited some friends he had made via correspondence, who lived in the city of Łódź. He provides us with a great insight away from the intelligentsia as his friends were workers. We hear in some detail how the communist party was perceived, life as a worker, as well as views on Lech Walesa and Solidarity. In the 1990s Evan interviewed General Jaruzelski, who as First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party (aka the communist party) gave the martial law order in 1981 and remained head of state until 1989. Extra info, and videos are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode191/ If you are enjoying the podcast please tell your friends you can really help us grow the number of listeners. Now I need help to continue to track down these unknown stories of the Cold war and ensure they are preserved before they are lost. If you can spare it I’m asking listeners to pledge a small monthly amount per month to help keep us on the air (larger amounts are welcome too) plus you can get a sought after CWC coaster as a monthly financial supporter of the podcast and you bask in the warm glow of knowing you helping preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Peter Ryan is our host today and I am delighted to welcome Evan McGilvray to our Cold War conversation… If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. 0:00 Introduction 3:00 Interview with Evan McGilvray: His interest in Poland and first impressions 16:45 Life in Poland: The average worker, shopping, self-sufficiency, and popular culture 26:16 Surveillance and influence of the Catholic church in Poland 29:07 Impressions and interactions with the communist regime in Poland 33:05 Impressions of the Soviet Union and Russian forces in Poland 36:21 Impressions of Lech Walesa in Poland and his transition to mainstream 40:19 Contacts with solidarity in Poland and encounters with General Jaruzelski 44:56 General Jaruzelski's efforts to correct the record 49:33 Reminder to check out extra information and videos Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(465)

My Father - The Enemy of the People: A Bulgarian Family’s Cold War Story (465)

Oggy Boytchev is a former BBC journalist with more than three decades of experience reporting from conflict zones across the Middle East, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. Born in 1955, Oggy g...

17 Jul 59min

Face to Face with the Srebrenica War Criminals (464)

Richard Lyntton’s life has taken him from Cold War Moscow to the deserts of the Gulf War and the shattered streets of Sarajevo. In this powerful episode, he recalls studying in the Soviet Union duri...

10 Jul 1h 12min

Inside a Cold War USAF Fighter Squadron (463)

Step behind the wire of one of NATO’s most elite tactical fighter squadrons—the 10th Tactical Fighter Squadron—during the tense final years of the Cold War and into Operation Desert Storm. Former U...

3 Jul 1h 9min

The Cambridge Five - new files reveal untold stories (462)

Antonia Senior’s new book, "Stalin’s Apostles", challenges what you may have believed about the Cambridge Five, a group of British citizens who spied for the Soviet Union. Antonia argues that their ...

26 Jun 1h 5min

Malta & West Germany - Memories of an RAF Childhood Abroad (461)

Mark Thompson shares his captivating journey as the child of Royal Air Force personnel during the Cold War. From the moment his parents met in Singapore to their adventures across various military bas...

19 Jun 1h 5min

Cold War Football: A History in Ten Matches (460)

The Cold War was a huge battle for hearts and minds — a true “people’s war.” But where did the “people’s game” fit into it? In their new book, Cold War Football: A History in Ten Matches, Tony Shaw...

12 Jun 52min

CIA and MI6 Covert Action in Communist Albania at the Dawn of the Cold War (459)

In June 1949, the US and British governments secretly agreed to mount a joint covert action operation to overthrow the communist government in Albania. The top-secret plan would use exiled dissidents ...

5 Jun 1h 6min

On the edge of war: A V-Force pilot during the Cuban Missile Crisis (458)

I had the honour of speaking with Tony Dobbie, a former RAF V- Force bomber pilot who joined the RAF in 1960. Tony shares amazing anecdotes from his training, including his experiences flying jets ...

29 Mai 1h 18min