People’s Voices
Magda Vášáryova
“Slovakia People in the West walked holding themselves straight, talked with self-confidence, and were open. I believe that we – in the East – still have a lot to learn to become that self-confident and that free in expressing our opinions. I think that the fear we lived ...
Jerzy Szacki
“Would your scientific career have developed the way it did if you had not travelled? Of course, it wouldn’t have. And besides, when one is in Poland, one has to participate in dozens of gatherings, meetings, the phone rings, letters arrive, and so on, and so forth. A ...
Jan Ruml
“I went to the West for the first time in 1989. I was 37. This first encounter with the West gave me a shock from which I have never really recovered, in a way. As soon as I crossed the border into Austria I got out of the ...
Soňa Szomolány
“Did these travels influence your life? They did – definitely! My main personality traits were formed, especially, when I was studying in Great Britain, around 1968. My generation of sixty-year olds now was formed around the ideals and values of 1968. It was this generation that was behind the ...
Petr Pajas
“The difference between our country and the West in the sixties was not so immense as one might think. It involved mainly differences between the cuisine and the mentality of the people. Westerners were more direct, more relaxed. They were not afraid of others. “ Czech activist, after November ...
Petruška Šustrov
“Freedom is one of the most precious values. And one’s willingness to observe the rules, such as to cross the street only when the light is green stems from, among other things, the feeling of being free and equal. This may be hard to explain to someone who ...
Jacek Ostaszewski
“The West gave us a sense of diversity and calmness, and that was precious to us. We knew that nobody would break the door to our house down, as happened once when we were living in Warsaw: the State Police broke in one night. (…) While we were ...
Janusz Onyszkiewicz
“Certainly, thanks to my travelling I was able to learn English well. I was able to have real contact with this language. (…) Knowing English meant that when Solidarity was established I could lead press conferences in English. In addition, I was able to acquaint myself with the ...
Kőszeg Ferenc
“I went to the West German Consulate to get a visa for West Germany. While waiting in a long queue I overheard one consular officer saying to another: “It’s that double-edged sword again.” He meant that as a holder of a Letter of Invitation from a university I ...
Miroslav Kusý
“I used to feel uneasy at the borders even after the 1989 Revolution. For example, at airports, there used to be one line for EU citizens and another for the rest of us. Border checks were, of course, even stricter during the Cold War. Yet, we were treated ...
Maja Komorowska
“The West was another world for us back then. Today it is hard to imagine the differences that existed between Poland and the West. Poland with its greyness contrasted sharply with the West and its colourfulness. I have to stress too, that I always appreciated the fact that ...
Kálmán Katona
“Before leaving for England, I had to make many arrangements. The administrative procedures were very lengthy. I had to stand in long queues. It was natural to only be given a date for an appointment after a month or more. But we were so happy that we were ...
Róza Hodosán
“I was so overwhelmed when I went to the West for the first time that I couldn’t even process all the information I was bombarded with during those three weeks. I had such a strong desire to experience all these things and when I finally had the opportunity ...
