BBC - The Lost World of Communism (2009) Part 1 A Socialist Paradise

In 1989 an entire way of life ended for millions behind the Iron Curtain. Combining 1st hand testimony with extensive archive footage, this 3 part series recreates and examines the world that disappeared twenty years ago - the lost world of communism. See unique archive and personal testimony from those who lived behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. The personal stories of dissident leaders, artists, athletes, entertainers, members of the communist elite, secret police and 'ordinary' citizens evoke the moods, and experiences across 4 decades of a now lost world of communism. 1989 was a year of revolution it marked the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe and an end to an entire way of life for millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Beginning in Hungary, the retreat from communism picked up speed over the summer when the Poles won an overwhelming victory in free elections over their pro-Soviet rulers. In the fall, East Germany and Czechoslovakia achieved freedom with surprisingly little violence. Only Romania, at the end of the year, witnessed a savage battle in the capital and the summary execution of the most notorious of Eastern Europe's dictators, Nicolae Ceausescu. In The lost World of Communism, award winning producer of history and current affairs series for the BBC Peter Molloy and his team, collect first hand testimony from the people who lived in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania during the Cold War era and reveal an astonishingly rich tapestry of experience that goes beyond the headlines of spies and surveillance, secret police and political corruption - in fact, a number of people remember their lives under communism as perfectly ordinary and even hanker for the 'security' that it offered. But what was it really like to live under communist rule? The answers are sometimes surprising.

Part 1 A Socialist Paradise

The German Democratic Republic was created out of the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany in 1949 to build a democratic, anti-fascist Germany. One of the East Germany's greatest achievements was the creation of a more egalitarian society, but he other side of the coin was that there was also the Stalinist bureaucracy and East Germany is mostly remembered as “Stasiland”. In the first episode we examine how the collapse of communism affected people in the 'socialist paradise' of East Germany.

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