Stories From The Eastern West

In the very last episode of Stories of The Eastern West as you knew it, we’re taking you to Estonia, 1989. A group of people there made 2 million others hold hands and create a human chain of unprecedented size and significance. The Baltic countries had a truly turbulent 20th century. They went from regaining their independence to losing it to the USSR and becoming subject to a ruthless policy of Russification. Unsurprisingly, they needed something big to jump on the bandwagon of the 1989 peaceful revolutions that liberated several countries from the USSR’s influence.  What they came up with was a human chain linking Tallinn with Riga and Vilnius. This huge event is something hard to wrap one’s head around nowadays when we think about the scanty means of communication the organisers had.  Our producer Wojciech went to Estonia and got a chance to talk to several people who co-organised or participated in the event. How was it at all possible? Why wasn’t it thwarted by the communist regime? How do people remember such a defining moment in their lives over 30 years later? Further listening KAIE / our episode from our mini-series The Final Curtain about ‘The Singing Revolution’ that Adam mentions in the show Further reading The Longest Unbroken Human Chain In History / an article on estonianworld.com All the human chains in one place / an article on wikipedia.org Further watching The Inimitable Baltic Way / a Lithuanian documentary Thanks Ivi Gubinska, Reet Villig, Eve Sildnik, Andres Tarand and Lukas Hioo for taking the time to discuss this incredible event with us. Keiu Telve and Maia-Liisa Anton for connecting us with Baltic Way participants and their thoughtful discussions about the meaning of the event.  Credits Written & produced by Wojciech OleksiakEdited by Adam Zulawski & Nitzan ReisnerHosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam ZulawskiScoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Get to know Piotr Szkopiak, a London-based film and TV director who’s spent a good portion of his life pondering the nature of his identity. Piotr Szkopiak was born in the United Kingdom but into a Polish family. As he grew up, he learned that his parents and neighbours were all World War II prisoners of war who had escaped the USSR but couldn't go back to Poland after the war ended. His mother told him how she had travelled from the depths of the Soviet Union through Persia and southern Europe to the UK, and how after the war this is the place that she had to learn to call home. But first and foremost, his parents talked to him in Polish, signed him up for a Polish weekend school, and raised him as a person with a double identity: Polish and British. This in-betweenness has been something that strongly influenced his life and he reflects on it all in an interview he gave to Karolina Jackowiak, who on behalf of the Poles in South London organisation, was working on the Local Heroes Archive oral history project. We, at SFTEW, liked the story so much that we decided to turn it into one of our episodes. Click here to get the transcript Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Further listening ORPHANS // the SFTEW episode we mention in the podcast: how 700 Polish children made an unlikely journey from the depths of Siberia to the New Zealand countryside. BEAR // an even more unlikely tale from us at SFTEW: the bear who fought in World War II alongside Anders’ Army. Further reading Artists In Arms // the incredible odyssey of Anders’ Army, told through a multimedia guide from Culture.pl Soldiers, Artists: The Exhibitions of Anders’ Army // on Culture.pl Piotr Szkopiak // Piotr's IMDB profile Cultivating Polish Folk Dance in 1970s South London // another story from the Local Heroes Archive project Memories of South London’s Polish Music Scene // another story from the Local Heroes Archive project Poles in South London // the community’s official website Thanks Piotr Szkopiak // for letting us turn his story into a podcast episode. Poles in South London // especially Marta Sordyl and Łukasz Wołągiewicz from the organisation, for reaching out and offering this incredible story to us. Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Nicolaus Copernicus, born in 1473, was the orphaned son of a copper merchant in Toruń. Thanks to his bishop uncle, he obtained a first class education at the Kraków Academy and then in Italy, where he became an avid observer of the night sky – even though he was supposed to be preparing for a church career. His day job as a church canon, diplomat and doctor in Frombork – when he wasn't defending castles against the Teutonic Knights – meant that it took him over 30 years to finish his book 'On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres' in which he presented an Earth-shattering new idea – that maybe it wasn't actually at the centre of the universe as everyone believed, but in fact revolved around the Sun. Although it would take another century until Galileo was able to prove Copernicus right inarguably using the later invention of the telescope, Copernicus's book, published in 1543 in Nuremberg, would mark the beginning of a very real revolution in science and our understanding of the universe. Listen to the episode to find out how he came to this unexpected conclusion, and what happened next. Click here to get the transcript Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Further reading Copernicus: Revelations about the Renaissance Man // on Culture.pl Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God – Jan Matejko // on Culture.pl A Quiz About Copernicus: More Than a Great Astronomer! // on Culture.pl Further watching Copernicus, by Jan Matejko // video by Waldemar Januszczak on YouTube.com Further visiting Nicolaus Copernicus Museum // in Frombork, Northern Poland Thanks Małgorzata Czupajło // Educator at the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork. Dava Sobel // Science history writer and author of A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos. Prof. Karl Galle // Science historian at the American University in Cairo, currently working on a book delving into Copernicus's life in Warmia, including his roles as a church administrator, diplomat, cartographer and doctor. Lastly, a special thank you to the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork for their help in making this episode possible. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Vera Chytilová was the most important woman director of the Czechoslovak New Wave – although she remains relatively unknown outside of Central Europe. As the first female student of the prestigious FAMU film school in Prague, she had to fight in order to do things her own way. During the creative explosion of the Czechoslovak New Wave, she made her most well known film ‘Daisies’ (1966) – a surrealist pop-art comedy, about two young women who set their minds on creating humorous destruction around them. The 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of her country stopped Chytilová’s promising career dead in its tracks, but unlike Miloś Forman (‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’, 1975) and others, she refused to emigrate, despite the huge personal cost. After seven years of professional exile, she was allowed to return to filmmaking in the late 1970s, once again finding critical success. After the privatisation of the Czech film industry in the 1990s, she was one of the first to adapt with ‘The Inheritance’ (1992) – a scathing satire on the effect free-for-all capitalism was having on her fellow citizens. Having never compromised on her beliefs, she remained a moral authority in her country until her death in 2014, and continues to inspire those lucky enough to come across her films for the first time. Listen to the episode to hear her fascinating story. Click here to get the transcript Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Further reading Vera Chytilova Dies at 85; Made Daring Films in Czech New Wave // on nytimes.com "It's still revolutionary' : Věra Chytilová’s Daisies comes sixth in BBC poll of films by women // on Czech Radio.cz The Cinematic Gems of the Czechoslovak New Wave // on Hyperallergic.com Poles Conquer Czech Cinema // on Culture.pl The Most Powerful Films From Beyond the Iron Curtain // on Culture.pl Further watching Naughty Young People: Chytilová, Kučera, Krumbachova (2012) // documentary at Vimeo.com Thanks Tereza Kučerova // set designer and visual artist, for talking to us about her mother, and her childhood memories of the dramatic events of 1968. Anička Hanáková // for helping translate our conversation and sharing her own memories of her grandmother. Dr. Michal Bregant // director of the National Film Archive in Prague, for sharing his experience of working with Chytilová in the 1980s. Professor Jan Bernard // for talking about his former teaching colleague at at FAMU. Dr. Jindřiška Bláhová // Assistant Film Studies Professor at Charles University, for sharing her knowledge of Chytilová's life and work. Jakub Felcman // filmmaker and former student of Chytilová at FAMU, for talking to us about the Czech director as a teacher and mentor. Lastly, a special thanks to Barbora Lochmanová from the Czech Film Center and Jitka Rohanova from the Polish Institute in Prague for their help in making the episode possible. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Stanisław Lem was a science-fiction writer whose works, abilities and quirky sense of humor convinced Phillip K. Dick that he was too brilliant to exist and must have actually been a committee of people! Indeed his rare gift for blending philosophy with technology and action made him an instantaneously recognisable voice in the European sci-fi world and elevated him to the heights of popularity and critical acclaim. But Lem’s life was far from a textbook success story. Throughout his life, he struggled with traumatic wartime memories, distorted identities, and the communist system. But somehow, he was able to turn all the hardships and obstacles into elements of the incredible universes he created in his novels. In this episode, our hosts Nitzan and Adam will try to unravel some of the most confusing mysteries surrounding Lem: why did he choose to abandon his pre-war identity? How on Earth did he foresee the Internet in the 1960s? Is it true that he learned English from a dictionary in a week? Like our show? Get our newsletter! Further reading Stanisław Lem // bio on Culture.pl Stanisław Lem: Did the Holocaust Shape His Sci-Fi World? // on Culture.pl 13 Things Lem Predicted About The Future We Live In // on Culture.pl Phillip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem is a Communist Committee // on Culture.pl Lem Vs. Tarkovsky: The Fight Over ‘Solaris’ // on Culture.pl The Many Masks & Faces of Stanisław Lem // on Culture.pl Humorous Horrors: How Lem Taught His Nephew to Write Flawlessly // on Culture.pl 8 Science Fiction Films Adapted from Lem // on Culture.pl Further watching The Adventures of the Blindworm: An Orthographic Short Story by Stanisław Lem // on Culture.pl Thanks Agnieszka Gajewska // professor of literary studies, author of ‘Holocaust and the Stars: The Past in the Prose of Stanisław Lem’ (available in English from November 2021) and ‘Hasło: Feminizm’. Wojciech Orliński // a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger, author of the best-selling Lem biography ‘Lem: Życie Nie z tej Ziemi’ (Lem: A Life Out of This World). You can enjoy his incredible sense of humour on his blog (which he writes in Polish). Wiktor Jaźniewicz // Belarus’s premier ‘lemologist’, and owner of a ‘lemologic cabinet’ that you can see for yourself here. Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

This year we have more great stories for you! There's going to be a bit of sci-fi, a pinch of socialist realism, a good portion of astronomy, and some old-fashioned moving testimonies from a region that never sleeps! Stay tuned: the first episode drops September 7th! Like our show? Get our newsletter!

In 1967, Marian Marzyński was a popular TV show host and filmmaker in Poland. But then a seemingly faraway military clash sparked an unexpected conflict within the Polish communist party that led its Jewish members to be accused of anti-Polish sentiments. The conflict developed into an anti-Semitic campaign that affected all of Polish Jewish society and led to the emigration of the majority of the remaining Polish Jews, whose numbers had already been dwindled due to the Holocaust. Emigrating away from an authoritarian regime, Marian was able to process the events around him by filming them from his perspective, something he was previously unable to do. He continues to film his personal stories today. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:11] 1968: a year of global unrest  [02:08] Escape from the ghetto  [03:17] Never forget to lie [07:13] The war is over. Jewish identity after the war [08:22] Marian becomes a journalist [10:28] Internationalism vs. nationalism [10:46] The Six-Day War [12:08] Censoring 'Dziady' in the National Theatre [12:39] The mechanisms of hostility [14:55] Marian decides to leave  [16:16] First stop: Denmark [17:29] Marian films emigration  [18:38] Who were we? [19:45] What is emigration? [20:13] Film-making after emigration [21:30] Moving to the USA [23:06] Humour  [24:12] Marian’s returns to Poland [25:40] The inner child Further reading Marian’s website Interview with Marian Marzyński about his film 'Shtetl' // on PBS.org Further watching Life on Marz // Marian Marzyński's film on Vimeo.com Skibet/Hatikvah // Marian Marzyński's film on Vimeo.com Jewish Blues // Marian Marzyński's film on Vimeo.com Shtetl // Marian Marzyński's film on Vimeo.com Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Edited by Wojtek Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski & Nitzan Reisner Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

In 1938, Hitler's forces marched into Czechoslovakia, a country that had only gained its independence two decades earlier. A puppeteer named Josef Skupa was ready to fight back with the help of Spejbl and Hurvínek – a father son duo of wooden puppets. Because the Nazi German occupiers didn't seem to take puppets very seriously, Skupa's theatre in Pilsen was able to put on satirical performances that directly referred to the occupation and gave ordinary Czechs hope that one day things would be better. Eventually Skupa's luck would run out – the Gestapo even arrested his puppet duo. But all three were destined to become household names in the Czech Republic, a country that takes its puppets seriously... Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps 00:48] Imagine if Kermit the frog took on the Third Reich [02:12] Josef Skupa and Kašpárek farewell the Austrio-Hungarian Empire [04:36] A modern kind of puppet theatre [07:25] Spejbl and Hurvínek battle Nazi insects [08:30] Munich Conference and Carousel over Three Floors [11:44] Voničky and Long Live the Future [14:50] Death threats and a final anti-fascist play [16:28] Arrest of Skupa and his puppets [17:58] Escape from prison, Spejbl and Hurvínek rescued from the trash [20:51] Legacy of Josef Skupa and his puppets [21:43] Puppet-making workshop with Mirek and Leah [23:21] Credits Further reading Josef Skupa // on World Encyclopedia of Puppet Arts Jan Malik // on World Encyclopedia of Puppet Arts Sjebl and Hurvinek // on Wikipedia Quay Brothers' Puppetry Prescription in New York // on Culture.pl Puppets, Birds & Wycinanki // on Culture.pl The Bug Trainer – The Story of Władysław Starewicz // on Culture.pl Further watching Spejbl goes Mushroom Hunting // short episode from the 1974 bedtime series Return of Spejbl and Hurvinek, voiced by Josef Skupa's protege Miloś Kirchner. On Ceskatelevize.cz (Czech only) Further visiting Spejbl and Hurvinek Theatre // Puppet theatre in Prague opened by Josef Skupa in 1945 as a continuation of his theatre in Pilsen. They hold regular shows for kids and families. Plzeň Puppet Museum // Puppet museum located in the historic centre of Plzeň (Pilsen), the town where Josef Skupa opened his first theatre and the birthplace of Spejbl and Hurvínek. Puppets in Prague // Puppet-making workshop in Prague run by Mirek Trejtner and Leah Gaffen. Temporarily being run online. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Wojtek Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Thanks We’d like to thank Denisa Kirchnerova from the Spejbl and Hurvinek theatre in Prague, Tomáš Pfejfer, curator at the Puppet Museum in Pilsen, and Nina Malikowa for sharing their knowledge about Josef Skupa and his performances during WWII. Thanks also to Leah Gaffen and Mirek Trejtner from Puppets in Prague for talking to us and inviting Piotr to their skeleton-making workshop.  Lastly, a special thanks to Jitka Rohanova from the Polish Institute in Prague for her help in making the episode.

Back in 2019, we got the chance to interview Anastasija Gulej. She was 95 at the time, living a happy life in one of Kyiv's suburbs. If you didn’t know her, you’d never tell be able to tell that she wakes up every day with the horrors of her past. Her past as an Auschwitz-Birkenau inmate.  Anastasija was already 18 years old when she was taken there, which makes her memories especially valuable. She remembers things perfectly clearly, she understood what was going around her, she knew what it was.  We strongly believe that keeping the memories of such events in mind is our duty, even more so now, when most of the people who could remember it are gone. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:29] Beginning of the war [05:22] The first time Anastasija was afraid [07:31] Auschwitz-Birkenau [15:56] The Death March [20:17] Liberation. Bergen-Belsen Camp [22:25] Post scriptum [24:19] Credits Further reading There Was Love in the Ghetto: A Conversation with Paula Sawicka // on Culture.pl The Holocaust in Polish Literature: 7 Key Books // on Culture.pl You Never Know How Fate Will Play Out: An Interview With Józef Hen // on Culture.pl Further watching Zofia Posmysz: Memory That Will Save Us // on Culture.pl Preserving Memory: The Conservation of Auschwitz-Birkenau // on Culture.pl Preserving Memory: The Barracks of Auschwitz-Birkenau // on Culture.pl Preserving Memory: The Art of Auschwitz-Birkenau // on Culture.pl Credits Written and produced by Wojciech Oleksiak & Żenia Klimakin Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

‘Romania today is possibly the only European country where you can bump into a witch at the supermarket.’ The history of witches in Europe is a tumultuous and violent one. Always on the margins of society and in opposition to any form of hierarchy, their presence sparked fear and prejudice which led to prosecutions and witch hunts. But unbeknownst to many, their traditions have outlasted all of this. In Romania, the 21st century has turned out to be a surprisingly good time for witches. As a child, Clara learned that they could make anything happen. As a grown up, she had a few questions about it all and decided to knock on a witch’s door. But interviewing a witch turned out not to be so simple... Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:08] The spell [02:09] Ball lightning [07:14] Clara & her grandmother try to interview a witch [12:51] Clara & Monika team up [13:51] The most powerful witch in southeastern Europe [15:21] What a witch can do [16:30] Back to square one [23:00] Credits Further reading Romania's Modern Witches // on CNN Style Lucia Sekerková: A Peculiar Look at 21st-Century Witchcraft // photography on The Calvert Journal Beneath the Surface: The Occult Inspirations of Poland's Legendary Naive Artist Coal Miners // on Culture.pl 9 Supernatural Beings & Places of Polish Folklore // on Culture.pl Slavic Daemons: Fearsome & Formidable Females // on Culture.pl Séances, Dragons & Chakras: Kraków's Magical Past // on Culture.pl Further watching Witchcraft in Romania // video on VICE Asia Youtube channel Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba & Clara Kleininger Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Thanks A huge thanks to Mrs. Ardelanca and her daughter for foreseeing only good events.

In the summer of 1976, the late Polish film director Andrzej Żuławski, responsible for infamous cult classics such as The Devil (1972) and Possession (1981), was given a green light to shoot the most expensive film ever made in Poland. On the Silver Globe was meant to be a massively ambitious science-fiction epic set on the Moon, showing the birth of a new civilisation, and produced without the benefit of modern special effects. But things didn't quite go to plan. The huge ambitions of a temperamental and demanding director combined with the financial and technological realities of 1970s Poland meant that the production faced an uphill battle from the first day of shooting. But with over 70% of the film already shot, and the end almost in sight, On the Silver Globe unexpectedly fell victim to the whims of a Communist Party hardliner and was relegated to cinematic history. How do you make a space opera without Hollywood special effects in a state-run economy? What were the crew doing in Mongolia? Who was Janusz Wilhelmi and why did he shut down the production? And does the story ultimately have a happy ending? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:24] Intro [02:56] Flying to the Moon [05:10] Economic strife & a controversial director [07:20] Making a space opera without special effects [10:09] The Gobi Desert as the Moon [12:10] Production delays & cost overruns [16:15] Script changes & Hamlet monologues [18:37] A burning Shern [22:03] Wilhelmi arrives on the scene [25:55] ‘It’s over, lads.’ [29:38] Is this how the story ends? [33:54] Credits Further reading On the Silver Globe // film description on Culture.pl Andrzej Żulawski // bio on Culture.pl The Origins of Polish Sci-Fi & The Legacy of Jerzy Żuławski // feature article on Culture.pl about the origins of The Lunar Trilogy books and their far-reaching influence Jerzy Żuławski // bio on Culture.pl On the Silver Globe // on RogerEbert.com Further watching On The Silver Globe // fragment of the film after digital restoration, on Kadr Film Studio’s Youtube channel. Further visiting CETA Audiovisual Technology Centre// If you happen to be in the beautiful South-West city of Wrocław, you can visit the building that used to house the Wrocław film studio, which served as a base for the film, as well as such classics as The Saragossa Manuscript by Wojciech Jerzy Has. These days it houses a state-of the art special effects studio, but remains the home of the surviving costumes and props from On the Silver Globe. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Wojtek Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Thanks We'd like to thank Andrzej Jaroszewicz, Andrzej Seweryn, Stefan Kurzyp, and Jerzy Śnieżawski for talking to us. Many thanks also to Daniel Bird for guiding us through the strange world that is On the Silver Globe. And lastly, a special thanks to Maria Duffek, costume designer at the CETA audiovisual technology centre in Wrocław for her help and extensive knowledge.

After the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east in 1939, many thousands of Polish families were deported to Siberian forced labour camps. There they not only faced bitter cold but constant hunger. Then Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and the families that were now allowed to leave tried to get as far south as possible. In many cases, only their children made it all the way to safety in Iran. Some Polish orphans were resettled in places like South Africa and Mexico, but a group of 700 would end up travelling on a US Navy ship to the small island nation of New Zealand, on the other side of the world. How did the children survive their perilous journey from Siberia to Iran, and end up in a place called Pahiatua in the New Zealand countryside? How did they adjust to a new life surrounded by sheep and cattle, and what happened when the camp they had begun to call home was finally shut down for good? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:10] Deportation from Eastern Poland to Siberia [06:15] Everyday life in the Labour Camps [09:30] The USSR joins the allies, amnesty, and getting out of Russia [12:08] The Polish Army gathers orphans from the countryside [14:30] Arrival in Pahlavi and Isfahan [16:25] Iran becomes dangerous and the children need to be resettled [17:05] Leaving for New Zealand on a US Navy Transporter [18:45] Arrival in Wellington and the camp in Pahiatua [21:21] Life in the countryside [23:49] The NZ government takes over caring for the children [25:18] Settling down, finding careers and getting married [28:03] Living the two cultures side by side [28:50] The arrival of Stefania's parents [30:30] Finding your place in the world Further reading / watching Polish Children of Pahiatua // on the Wellington City Council website Dzieci z Pahiatua // on ArchiwumEmigranta.pl (Polish) The Story of 700 Polish Children // Documentary (1966) on NZOnScreen.com The arrival of the Polish Children in Wellington // Newsreel (1944) on NZOnScreen.com Credits Written, produced & presented by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Thanks This episode was produced with help from the Embassy of Poland in Wellington. We'd like to extend many thanks to Ambassador Zbigniew Gniatkowski and Anna Gołębicka-Buchanan for helping us get in touch with the protagonists of our episode. We'd also like to say thank you to Stanisław Manterys, Malwina Zofia Rubisz Schwieters and Jozef and Stefania Zawada for telling us their story, and to Karolina Palej for her assistance.

As much as The People’s Republic of Poland may seem a distant country hidden behind the Iron Curtain, it was an open and welcoming one... towards other socialist states. Student exchange programmes were one of the many ways of building international socialist partnerships. The Vietnam War was just ending when Hai ‘Nam’ Bui Ngoc had reached university. He was one of the few lucky ones given a chance to travel to the other side of the world to study ship building. After a few weeks spent travelling by train from Hanoi to Warsaw, he saw everything other than what he had imagined. But this was only the beginning of his incredible journey... Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:08] What does Nam mean? [02:09] The end of the world: growing up during the Vietnam War [07:14] Moving to Poland to study shipbuilding [12:51] Vietnamese secret agents appear [13:51] Becoming a guru [15:21] Love [16:30] Escape [20:44] 'What saved me was a hand' [23:22] Asylum in France [24:13] Problems in heaven & a difficult return to Poland ​​​​​​​[25:36] Where home is Further reading & watching Nam’s martial arts school // official website June 1976 and the Workers’ Defence Committee // an article on the Workers Defence Committee on Poland.pl Polska PRL 1974 r // Polish news chronicle from 1974 on Youtube Polska 1975, Polska Kronika Filmowa // Polish news chronicle from 1975 on Youtube ( Life In Gdansk ) (1971) // British Pathé footage of Gdańsk in 1971 on Youtube Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

In August 1980, after the firing of popular shipyard worker, Anna Walentynowicz, a strike broke out at the Vladimir Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. Suddenly this massive complex on the Polish coast, with 16,000 employees and of huge strategic importance for the Polish economy, was under worker occupation, and every day other workplaces in Gdańsk and around the country started joining in. Very soon the communist leadership in Warsaw realised that this wasn't just another strike they could snuff out with promised pay rises, or indeed by force. As for the shipyard workers, they realised that this was a chance to force the government to accept something they had long been fighting for… trade unions that were independent from the state, and run by the workers themselves… So who exactly was Anna Walentynowicz and how did her firing provoke a strike that took hold of the country? Why did Henryka Krzywonos stop her tram on a busy intersection in Gdańsk? How did a shipyard become a focal point for the battle for freedom and democracy? Did the strikers ultimately get what they were fighting for? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!  Time stamps [01:02] 1980s Poland: a country on the verge of a revolution [05:09] The strike starts at the shipyard... [07:19] ...and spreads to other workplaces in Gdańsk [12:10] How it looked from the other side of the fence [13:39] The strike becomes a country-wide protest [17:05] The protesters meet with the government delegation [22:00] The Gdańsk Agreement is signed [23:45] 'Solidarity' is founded by members of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee [27:40] Credits Further reading Poland's Walk To Freedom in 13 Iconic Photos // photo reportage on Culture.pl When the Stars Came Out for Solidarność // article on Culture.pl The European Solidarity Centre // the building's launch, on Culture.pl The Gdansk Agreement // on Wikipedia.org Further watching Who is Anna Walentynowicz? // an hour-long documentary about Anna Walentynowicz and the 1980 strikes (Polish/German with English subtitles) Robotnicy 1980 // a documentary about the strikes and negotiations at the Gdańsk shipyard (Polish only) Further visiting Stocznia jest kobietą - Shipyard is (a) female // a mobile app and audio tour that lets you discover the history of the Gdańsk shipyards through the eyes of the women who worked there. Android phone users can find it here. European Solidarity Centre // a museum in Gdańsk dedicated to the shipyard and the history of the Solidarity movement. Anna Walentynowicz Exhibition // a special exhibit on the grounds of the shipyard dedicated to the work and activism of Anna Walentynowicz. Presented in the shed she used to work in. The Institute of Urban Culture in Gdansk // free walking tours of the shipyard and other historic areas in Gdańsk. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Wojtek Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner, Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Many thanks to Joanna Duda-Gwiazda and Andrzej Gwiazda, Henryka Krzywonos, Aleksander Maślankiewicz, Halina Lewna and everybody else we spoke to along the way during the making of this episode. And a special thanks to Anna Miller from the Arteria Association and Metropolitanka Group in Gdańsk, for her knowledge and assistance. Also be sure to check out our special mini-series on the democratic revolutions of 1989: The Final Curtain. You can also find it in our feed.

Chernobyl had cast a shadow over our childhoods. It was reportedly the cause of all the chronic diseases we’d struggled with. In the summer of 2018, we went there.  We wanted to walk into the belly of the beast, to debunk any nonsense around it. To hear about the doom, catastrophes, and everyday struggles.  But what we came back with was something else entirely – a beautiful and uplifting tale about love. Love for home, love for nature, love for people. Something stronger than the biggest nuclear accident in the history of humankind.  With uncertain times ahead of us all… it has given us the hope that we can overcome a whole lot, if only we care. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! If you happen to be a Russian speaker, you can listen to the original (Russian) version of this episode. Time stamps [00:00] Why we went to Chernobyl [05:50] We find Evgeny, a former teacher [07:57] ‘In 1986, nobody expected it...‘ [09:11] People weren’t informed about the disaster [10:11] The evacuation of Chernobyl [11:55] Evgeny returns to Chernobyl for the first time [14:19] Evacuation centre dilemmas [16:45] Chernobyl clean up [20:45] Evgeny returns for good (and bad) [24:40] Did other people try to come back? [25:49] Living in Chernobyl in 2018 More about Chernobyl 4 rooms // a sound art project showing you what the empty spaces of Chernobyl sound like Drone fly-by // see Chernobyl’s abandoned places for yourself from a bird’s-eye perspective Haunting Images // a photo gallery with photos taken by Lasse Damgaard The Babushkas of Chernobyl // a documentary movie about a group of older ladies living in a distant corner of the exclusion zone Credits Written & produced by Żenia Klimakin & Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Nick White & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner, Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Guitars by Michał Przerwa-Tetmajer Special thanks: State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, Ygor Egorov, Serhyi Dmytriyev, Julia Kononenko

This year, we've travelled to the far reaches of the globe for you: we went deep down into the Chernobyl Exclusion zone, visited New Zealand, and went back in time and space to deliver yet another set of stories that changed our world. Stay tuned: the first episode drops July 16th! Like our show? Get our newsletter!

How a teen's letter to a stranger in the Soviet Union led to a long-distance friendship that has lasted decades. Like many teens growing up in the People’s Republic of Poland, Ewa decided to send a letter to a stranger in the Soviet Union. Lena from Moscow wrote back to her, and they quickly found they had a lot in common, including a love of both dogs and Vysotsky records. They continued writing as they entered new phases in their lives. They began careers, started families, and of course there were the revolutions that changed everything around them from communist to capitalist. And they're still writing today... forty years later. How did Ewa find her penpal? Did the 1989 revolutions affect their friendship? And why have they never met? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Click here to listen to the Polish version of this episode! Time stamps [01:35] How Ewa found Lena [03:48] Instant friends [06:38] Exchanging gifts by post [08:49] The fall of communism [11:58] Still writing, but will they ever meet? Further reading / watching Poland's Walk to Freedom in 13 Iconic Photos // on Culture.pl Solidarność: Poland, Word by Word // on Culture.pl Posters of Solidarity from 1980 to 1989 // on Culture.pl A Pen Pal's Tales of Life in the Former Soviet Union // on FEE.org Postcrossing.com // a community that exchanges postcards with random people around the world Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How a giant communal song festival helped Estonians regain independence from the USSR. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain. In the Estonia Kaie Tanner grew up in, learning Russian at school was compulsory, and her mother and her friends often sang 'forbidden songs' at home – Estonian folk songs that the Soviet authorities disapproved of. Music was a huge part of her life, but she didn't expect that it could help her country win independence. But in 1987, when Kaie Tanner attended the massive Estonian Singing festival as a teenager, something unexpected happened. After the officially sanctioned event had finished, the hundreds of thousands of Estonians stayed and kept singing their own Estonian folk songs all through the night – and the Soviet authorities were powerless to stop them.  What was the Singing Revolution? How did it lead to the independence of Estonia and the other Baltic states? Was it possible for Estonia's Russian- and Estonian-speaking citizens to finally move on from past resentments? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:07] A childhood in Soviet-dominated Estonia [06:27] How Estonians tried to sing their country into independence  [10:01] Was the USSR military intervention successful? [12:38] Independence! Kaie becomes a music teacher [14:53] A country comprised of two peoples [18:24] Credits Further reading / watching The Singing Revolution // on Wikipedia.org The Sound of Freedom // on Local-life.com The Baltic Way // on Wikipedia.org Thanks This episode was produced with help from the Embassy of Poland in Tallinn. We'd like to extend many thanks to Ambassador Grzegorz Kozłowski, who kindly greenlighted our co-operation, and to Sławomira Borowska-Peterson, who helped us understand Estonian history, society and reality much better. Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How a Romanian mining town that lost its mine fought to turn its remains into a cultural hub.  In our second and final episode on Ion Barbu and the town of Petrila, we learn how the mine, the town's main employer, was unable to achieve profitability in the new era of capitalism and was closed down for good. Ion had spent 15 years of his life at the mine, and for him and many others it was more than just a place of work. So when the mine's crumbling buildings were in line for demolition, Ion decided to try and save them by using art to revitalise the town. What happened to the town once the mine closed? Did Ion manage to save the buildings of the former mine? What happened next? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:23] Why the mine was closed? [03:07] Meeting another miner: Cenusa Catalin [09:55] Ion gives us a tour around a gallery in Deva [11:30] What does the process of closing a mine look like? [16:26] Ion gives us a tour around the Plumber's Museum [19:05] The many more museums that Ion wants to open [20:38] Credits Further reading / watching Ion Barbu // on BeyondCoal.eu Photo gallery from our trip to Petrila // on Culture.pl Beneath the Surface: The Occult Inspirations of Poland’s Legendary Naive Artist Coal Miners // on Culture.pl Author Małgorzata Rejmer on Romania & Albania // interview on Culture.pl Planet Petrila: Documentary Feature Trailer // on Youtube Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Clara Kleininger was our associate producer for this story Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How a Romanian miner made political caricatures at a time when making fun of the country's leadership could mean a visit from the secret police.  After finishing university in 1978, Ion Barbu was assigned to the Petrila mine as a topographer. He only intended to be there briefly, but despite attempting other jobs such as local reporter and museum curator, he ended up staying at the mine for the next 15 years... How did Ion balance being both a miner and a political caricaturist? What happened when the secret police arrested him for mocking the Romanian president? How does he recall the sudden and violent fall of the Ceaușescu regime? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:04] How Ion became a miner... [05:04] ... and a caricaturist [09:50] The Securitate, the dreaded secret police of communist Romania [12:34] How did the political changes look from inside the Petrila mine?  [16:47] Ion explains why 'We should say goodbye to the past laughing'  [18:42] Credits Further reading & watching 'Islands of culture' shape the future of the Jiu Valley, Romania // on Just-Transition.info Beneath the Surface: The Occult Inspirations of Poland’s Legendary Naive Artist Coal Miners // on Culture.pl Author Małgorzata Rejmer on Romania & Albania // interview on Culture.pl Planet Petrila: Documentary Feature Trailer // on Youtube Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Clara Kleininger was our associate producer for this story Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski The last song was performed by Fanfara Minerilor din Cavnic

How a single mother in Kyiv experienced the end of the USSR and survived the harsh economic realities of life in post-communist Ukraine in the early 1990s. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain. Iryna Tkachenko is a music conservatory graduate and journalist who became a single mother just a couple of years before the demise of the Soviet Union and the political and economic turbulence that followed the fall of the Iron Curtain. Her wage as a radio journalist wasn't really enough to survive, but after the complete collapse of the Ukrainian economy,  you were considered lucky to have a job at all. She bought clothes at second-hand shops and travelled to Moscow to buy things that you couldn't get in the mostly empty stores of Kyiv. She took on extra jobs and did whatever she could to survive but never lost her positive outlook on life. How did Iryna end up selling toy cars on the streets of Kyiv? How did she and her friends react to the putsch of August 1991? How did she cope with the early days of capitalism? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:10] An unusual single mom [06:00] How Iryna became a businesswoman... for one day only [07:50] The August Coup & the uncertainty it brought on [11:17] Why didn't she go to work abroad? [14:15] And what was she doing instead?  [19:10] Credits Further reading Photos of Everyday Life in Ukraine in the 1990s // on Slate.com Wearing Adibas & Fuma: Memories from Growing up in the 1990s  // on Culture.pl Anne Applebaum Recalls Poland's Food Revolution // on Culture.pl Coup of August 1991 // on Wikipedia.org Andrei Sakharov // on Wikipedia.org Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak & Żenia Klimakin Edited by Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How East Berlin's leading political cabaret tried to get their message through despite strict state censorship... and what happened when the system they were laughing at ceased to exist.  For the citizens of the GDR, laughter was often the best medicine when dealing with the absurdities of the political system they lived under. And if you were a resident of East Berlin, there was no better place than Kabarett Distel (meaning 'thorn' in German). The content of Kabarett Distel shows was strictly censored, so performers had to find clever ways to fully communicate with their audience – who would be focussed on every word and facial expression. Even if it was likely that the Stasi secret police was watching. As the regime began to crumble, late 1980s members of the cabaret joined other East Germans on the streets to demand democratic reforms. How did the cabaret respond to the tumultuous events of 1989 and the opening of the Berlin Wall? How did Kabarett Distel adapt to the new democratic reality, where you were suddenly free to say what you like? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:01] Laughing at the system [06:00] Testing the boundaries of censorship [10:13] The final years of the GDR [12:43] The fall of the Berlin Wall and what it meant for Kabarett Distel [14:32] Unification, scandal & the Stasi [18:22] Staying relevant & funny in a free system [19:59] Almost time to pack our suitcases Further reading History of German Kabarett // on Wikipedia.org Polish Cabaret under the Communist Regime // on Culture.pl Kabarett Distel // official website (German only) Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

Meet the headstrong musician who's been viciously rebelling against both of the systems he lived under... and created some truly worthwhile art along the way.  Tymon Tymanski came of age in the 1980s, probably the bleakest years of the communist regime. Much like teenagers in the West, he turned to punk rock and artistic rebellion as a way of protesting the stagnation of the society he lived in. He met like-minded young people at the University of Gdańsk, played in various bands, and formed the avant-garde art group Totart, whose absurd, and often obscene, performances and happenings aimed to provoke disorder and outrage. Then, in 1989, the whole system came tumbling down. Like other artists, Tymon had to adapt to the new reality of total artistic freedom and economic uncertainty. How did Tymon and his band Miłość (Love) end up creating a whole new musical genre? What did the arrival of free-market capitalism in the 1990s mean for artists and musicians? Is it possible to remain uncompromising as an artist and still pay the bills? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:25] Coming of age in the 1980s [04:08] The origins of Totart [06:12] Absurdity & transgression [08:43] 1989 & the end of censorship [10:48] A new band & a new music genre [13:29] Disillusionment & surviving as an artist Further reading Tymon Tymanski // biography on Culture.pl Yass: The Jazz, The Filth & The Fury // on Culture.pl 9 Politically Influential Singer-Songwriters from Europe under Communism // on Culture.pl Rock Music and the Fall of Communism // on Wikipedia.org The Walls Must Tumble: 10 Polish Songs about Freedom // on Culture.pl Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Adam Zulawski Music by Tymon Tymański, Sni Sredstvom Za Uklanianie, Tymon Tymański & The Transistors, and Totart Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How a banned singer-songwriter became an unwilling musical hero through his home-copied cassettes.  Jacek Kleyff was an increasingly popular topical songwriter in 1970s Poland. But he was unwilling to bend to the demands of the communist state's censorship, so the authorities reacted by banning him from appearing in public, including radio and TV. But he didn't stop recording, and his songs, circulated through the underground on home-made cassettes, became anthems for the Polish democratic opposition.  What did Jacek do when he was blacklisted by the communist authorities? How did he become a cult figure within the Polish opposition? What did he do when the regime fell? Find out in the latest episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Click here to listen to the Polish version of this episode! Time stamps [01:25] Coming of age during the grim 1970s in Poland [03:56] Jacek founds the Salon of Independents and becomes an oppositionist [06:23] Salon gets banned, Jacek goes on to play solo [09:57] Jacek writes a song which... starts a revolution [15:22] Jacek gets banned for life and casts himself away... [18:15] ... but still makes some noise from the underground [20:35] The system's gone. What does it mean for Jacek? Further reading Jacek Kleyff // biography on Culture.pl 9 Politically Influential Singer-Songwriters from Europe under Communism // on Culture.pl Solidarność: Poland, Word by Word // on Culture.pl A Long Way To Freedom: Banned Photos From Poland's 1980s // on Culture.pl Rock Music and the Fall of Communism // on Wikipedia.org The Walls Must Tumble: 10 Polish Songs about Freedom // on Culture.pl Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Special thanks to Lauren Dubowski for her brilliant translation of 'Sejm'

How an East German cameraman filmed the first major demonstrations in the GDR from the top of a church steeple in Leipzig. A month later, East Germany would effectively cease to exist. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain. Siegbert Schefke was officially unemployed after being fired from his job as a building engineer. Unofficially, he began to arrange for diplomats to smuggle videotapes from East Germany to be broadcast on West German TV stations. As it happens, most East Germans could also pick up Western TV on their receivers. Siegbert didn't really know how to use a video camera, but that didn't really matter, what mattered was that the world could see what was really going on behind the Wall. How did Siegbert and his friend Aram Radomski end up filming the first major protest in the GDR on 9th October 1989?  How did they outfox the Stasi and get the footage to the West? Find out in the newest episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:08] Born in the GDR [03:50] From part-time revolutionary to full-time revolutionary [06:22] Smuggling videotapes to the West [08:40] Foreign diplomats & secret codes [11:11] The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig [14:27] Making history [18:22] The day the Berlin Wall fell [21:12] What next? Further reading Siegbert Schefke // short biography on Revolution89.de The Monday Demonstrations in East Germany // on Wikipedia A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig // on Spiegel.de 'I was very angry for 30 years' // interview on AlJazeera.com Sex, Karate & Videotapes: The VHS Craze of the 1989 Transformation // on Culture.pl Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How Polish opposition activists began transmitting their own pirate radio and 'hacked' communist-run state TV. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain. Wojciech Stawiszyński was an opposition activist, who suddenly found himself in charge of running Radio Solidarność, a mobile radio station that would be the voice of the pro-democracy Solidarity movement. Their success depended on a sophisticated game of cat and mouse with the authorities, with each broadcast taking place at a new location. In the darkest period of martial law, they had to resort to incredibly complicated ways of operating, funding, broadcasting and even communicating with each other. Did they make it through? Did they manage to outmaneuver the communist secret services? What happened when communism was gone? Find out in the latest episode of The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Click here to listen to the Polish version of this episode! Time stamps [01:08] How Wojciech found himself in charge of the outlawed Radio Solidarność [03:50] How do you reach listeners when the secret police is on your back? [05:55] Radio Solidarność programme content [09:05] Outsmarting the communist regime with technology [14:35] Hardships and low points [16:42] How to live a dangerous dual life [20:36] Adjusting to capitalism after 1989 Further reading Radio Solidarity, On The Air, Defies Polish Regime // on NYT.com Poland's Walk to Freedom in 13 Iconic Photos // on Culture.pl Solidarność: Poland, Word by Word // on Culture.pl Posters of Solidarity from 1980 to 1989 // on Culture.pl Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Music by Blue Note Sessions Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

How a photographer from London gave the rest of the world a glimpse of everyday life behind the Iron Curtain. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain. The Polish-British photographer Chris Niedenthal found himself in the heart of Communist Poland in the 1970s and 80s, documenting both how ordinary people lived, as well as the major political events leading up to the collapse of the Soviet-backed regime. His photographs ended up in major Western periodicals, such as Newsweek, Time, Der Spiegel and Forbes. Through his camera, he created a window into the Polish People's Republic for the rest of the world to peer through.  His iconic photograph of an armoured vehicle in front of a poster for the film ‘Apocalypse Now’, taken after martial law was declared in Poland, remains one of the defining images of the period – but how did he end up taking it, and what happened next?  Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter. Time stamps [01:07] How he came to Poland [04:15] The election of John Paul II and how it changed Chris’ life [05:30] Martial law and Chris’ most iconic photo [10:04] Other revolutions Chris witnessed and photographed [12:59] How he happened to be the first photographer to shoot the fall of the Berlin Wall [16:00] What did Chris do after communism had ended? Further reading Chris Niedenthal // biography on Culture.pl The Communist Regime in Poland in 10 Astonishing Pictures // on Culture.pl Solidarność: Poland, Word by Word // on Culture.pl Capturing a Country's History in One Single Picture // on Culture.pl ChrisNiedenthal.com // Chris's official website Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Music by Blue Dot Sessions & SIR HARDLY NOBODY (Chris Niedenthal's band) 

How a well-known opposition leader evaded capture by the communist authorities for almost five years. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain. In the early 1980s, Zbigniew Bujak was the head of Solidarity in the Warsaw region, a pro-democratic labour movement that was gaining in strength. So much so, in fact, that the communist leadership declared martial law in December 1981 in order to stop the opposition dead in its tracks. Hundreds of political activists were arrested, including much of the leadership of Solidarity. But Bujak managed to go into hiding before they had a chance to find him. Making use of an underground oppositionist network as well as methods of masking his movements, he managed to evade capture for five years. Keeping Zbigniew in hiding became crucial for the underground opposition since not only was he orchestrating anti-regime actions, but his continued freedom remained a symbol of the secret police’s weakness. How did his hiding end? What was the long-term impact of his activity? What did freedom mean for Bujak himself? How does he remember the shift of power from his own perspective? You’ll find all the answers in the opening episode of Stories From The Eastern West’s new mini-series The Final Curtain. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Click here to listen to the Polish version of this episode! Time stamps [01:45] Life in 1970s Poland [04:51] Zbigniew Bujak starts his anti-regime activities [09:47] Martial law [11:25] Going into hiding [17:17] Arrest. What next? [19:37] Glasnost: what it means, and what it meant for Poles [22:37] Communism is gone. Who takes over now? Further reading Zbigniew Bujak // biography on Wikipedia.com Poland's Walk to Freedom in 13 Iconic Photos // on Culture.pl Solidarność: Poland, Word by Word // on Culture.pl Posters of Solidarity from 1980 to 1989 // on Culture.pl One Photo, One Story: The Round Table Talks // on Culture.pl Credits Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak Edited by Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski

THE FINAL CURTAIN: a new series of personal tales from the Eastern Bloc’s demise. Launching August 23rd in the Stories From The Eastern West feed! The year 1989 saw a big change. All of Central and Eastern Europe took a U-turn within less than three years and transformed from the grey land behind the Iron Curtain into several independent, quickly developing, free market democracies.  The team behind Stories From The Eastern West is marking this occasion with The Final Curtain, a special mini-series featuring personal tales from the Eastern Bloc’s transformation. Through these remarkable accounts told by people who lived through circumstances we would now hardly believe, The Final Curtain offers an important snapshot of a pivotal moment in Europe’s history.  Find out more on SFTEW.com as well as our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also sign up for our newsletter.

Finland + technology = Nokia, doesn’t it? Yes, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Finland is responsible for many technological breakthroughs from the last couple decades, such as the SSH cybersecurity protocol used on over half of the world’s web servers, and Internet Relay Chat, which people born in the 1980s will remember as the first instant messenger. But back in the early 1990s, Finland’s tech scene was mostly just a lot of teenagers pirating software illegally. They would code at squat parties filled with cigarette smoke. None of the glossy corporate world that lay ahead was on anybody’s mind. In this episode, Molly Schwartz, who lived there for almost two years, goes on a journey to the roots of Finland’s tech transformation. She dives deep into 8-bit music, pixelated computer screens and the days when games were distributed on C-cassettes. Just how did this small, cold, dark and sparsely-populated country become an IT powerhouse? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:26] Wili Miettinen runs away from home and starts coding and… pirating[03:58] What were the beginnings of the Demoscene? [06:45] Demoparties![08:28] Why was it so difficult to create demos back in the early 1990s?[09:39] Demosceners start using their skills to make money...[12:28] … and serious business players take notice[14:40] Introducing Taneli Tikka[17:40] Taneli Tikka invents proto-Twitter[19:28] The demoscenes’ impact on the startup scene[23:02] Molly’s final monologue[24:45] Credits & thanks Further watching Second Reality PC Demo by Future Crew / on YouTube.com Making Of Second Reality / Future Crew / on YouTube.com Further reading Some hard data on the Demoscene / on Wikipedia Demoscene Still Alive and Kicking / on Wired.com Demoscene So Far / on a 90s-style Finnish blog How 1990s Polish Kids Discovered Nintendo through Piracy / on Culture.pl Thanks Wili Miettinen / for telling us about his personal experiences throughout his long career and how the tech industry grew out of squats and parties. You can find him on Twitter (where his username is, of course, OG): @wili Taneli Tikka / for talking to us about his experiences at Assembly as a teenager and how his forays into inventing social media. You can also find Taneli on Twitter: @tanelitikka Molly would also like to thank all the people who helped her along the way. Her special thanks go to Jussi-Pekka Harviainen, Pekka Aakko, Marko Reunanen and Jukka Kauppinen. Credits Written & produced by Molly SchwartzEdited by Adam Żuławski & Wojciech OleksiakScoring & sound design by Wojciech OleksiakHosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Żuławski

During WWII, the Third Reich had a systematic policy of plundering artwork from countries they invaded. In occupied Poland, this took place on a massive scale. Over half a million individual works of art were taken over the course of the war, including countless national treasures. But while some of these works of art were destined for the walls of high-ranking Nazi party officials and the planned Führermuseum, others were marked for destruction. In fact, there was one particular painting that the Germans were really keen to get rid of. ‘The Battle of Grunwald’ was painted by Jan Matejko in the late 19th century and portrayed a battle that had happened over 500 years ago, so why did the Third Reich want it gone so badly? And just how would it avoid being captured seeing as it was 10-metres long and weighed nearly a tonne? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:58] How big is this painting then? [03:00] The evacuation begins [04:43] What makes this painting so wanted? [07:32] The journey continues and tragedy strikes [10:19] Time to hide this enormity somewhere safe... [14:48] ...with the hunt at its peak [16:09] The Germans are gone. What next? [18:20] Where is the painting today and is it worth seeing? [20:10] Credits Further watching / listening The Tale of the Battle of Grunwald / by the National Museum in Warsaw, on youtube.com (Polish Only) Hitler's Fuhrermuseum / by the Art Curious Podcast, an excellent episode about stolen art in WWII and Hitler's planned Fuhrermusem. Further reading The Battle of Grunwald Explained / on Culture.pl Jan Matejko's Battle of Grunwald / on Wikipedia.org The Battle of Grunwald (First Battle of Tannenberg) / on Wikipedia.org Nazi Plunder / on Wikipedia.org Thanks Prof. Maria Poprzęcka / for talking to us about the history of the painting and its incredible war-time adventures. Poprzęcka is a professor of Art History at the University of Warsaw and presents an art history show on Polish Radio. Piotr Lisowski / for talking to us about the painting and its restoration, and sharing with us its many secrets. Lisowski is a paintings conservator at the National Museum in Warsaw. The National Museum in Warsaw / for their assistance. John Beauchamp / for becoming Piotr Lisowski's English voice. John is a seasoned radio journalist, currently working on Unseen Warsaw, a series of soundwalks located in Warsaw.  Grażyna Soczewka / for becoming the voice of Maria Poprzęcka. Grażyna is head of the Artists & Works section at Culture.pl and is our go-to voice for many of our videos. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Adam Żuławski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Żuławski

Alchemy – the supposed ancient art of turning everyday objects into gold – is widely believed to be obsolete. Interestingly, however, every bit of this notion is wrong. First of all, as it turns out, alchemy is still being practised today and, according to one of our guests, is doing better than ever. And second of all, it apparently was never actually an art of the physical transmutation of objects, but a very profound blend of philosophy, chemistry, physics and religion. Join us on SFTEW as we travel back to the Middle Ages and meet Michael Sendivogius, an alchemist who contributed to the discovery of something absolutely essential... Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:10] A transmutation in Emperor Rudolph’s court[03:37] Why were alchemists sought after? [04:43] What actually happened at the Emperor’s court?[06:39] What was alchemy really all about?[08:42] Were alchemists nothing more than a bunch of fraudsters?[10:53] Alchemical code[12:51] ‘There’s a secret substance in the air’[13:47] How Sendivogius came to his startling discovery [17:29] Alchemy is not dead[21:07] Credits Further watching Zbigniew Andrew Szydlo’s latest Ted Talks Appearance / on YouTube.com Zbigniew Andrew Szydlo sets things on fire / on YouTube.com Further reading How to turn things into gold / on scientificamerican.com (the thing we promised in the podcast!) The Origins of Alchemy & The Pole who Played with Oxygen / on Culture.pl Who Was Michael Sendivogius? Biography Of An Alchemist / on Culture.pl Water Which Does Not Wet Hands / a book by Dr Szydlo on Sendivogius and Mediaeval alchemy, on Amazon.com Thanks Zbigniew Andrew Szydlo / for revealing all the secrets of transmutation and alchemy to Adam, our editor and host. Dr Szydlo is an acknowledged chemist, educator and a great performer with a mission of presenting experiments outside of the classroom. Mark Stavish / for talking with us about the state of alchemy today. Mark is the director for the Institute for Hermetic Studies in Pennsylvania and a life-long student of esotericism with over 25 years experience in comparative religion, philosophy, psychology, and mysticism with emphasis on Traditional Western Esotericism. Rafał T. Prinke / for explaining how close Sendivogius really was to the world of science. Dr Prinke is a historian specialising in astrology, esotericism and ancient games. John Beauchamp / for his Sendivogius impersonation. John is a seasoned radio journalist, currently working on Unseen Warsaw, a series of soundwalks located in Warsaw.Credits Written & produced by Elizabeth Lawrence & Wojciech OleksiakEdited by Adam ŻuławskiScoring & sound design by Wojciech OleksiakHosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam ŻuławskiResearch by Monika Proba

The German Democratic Republic was known for being one of the more politically repressive countries in the former Eastern bloc, with its Stasi secret police keeping a firm grip on any form of dissent. But it is also known for its long tradition of nude bathing – known in Germany as Free Body Culture or FKK. In the mid-1950s, this tradition came under threat as the GDR government tried to ban nude bathing completely. Unexpectedly for a country that had no tolerance for dissent, the East German fans of Free Body Culture fought back… Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:19] Imagine it's the middle of summer [02:21] Train across the border [03:43] Meeting Dr Wolle [04:57] A bit of history [06:45] Lake Motzener [08:33] The 1930s & WWII [09:57] The birth of the DDR [12:39] FKK outlawed [15:07] Opening of the floodgates [17:13] Mass popularity [18:07] The Iron Curtain falls [20:00] Free Body Culture survives? [21:35] Conclusion [22:46] Credits Further watching 1976 News Report from an East German Beach (with Christmas Carols?!) / at mdr.de (Central German Broadcasting) CONTAINS NUDITY (in German) Further reading Freikorperkultur (Free Body Culture) explained / at Wikipedia.org Nudity in Germany: The Naked Truth / at CNN Travel Will Public Nakedness Fade Out in Germany? / at Citylab.com Love in the Time of Communism / book by Josie McLellan at Amazon.com. The chapter on FKK in East Germany was an invaluable resource in researching this topic. Thanks Dr Stefan Wolle / for sharing with us his knowledge about the origins of Free Body Culture and its popularity in the former East Germany. Dr Wolle is the Head of the Research Department at the DDR Museum in Berlin. Reinhard Gens / for inviting us to visit the AKK Birkenheide eV: FKK Verein (Birkenheide General Body Culture Association) at Lake Motzener, and for speaking to me about the history of FKK and his own experiences. Reinhard is retired and an FKK enthusiastic since the late 1950s. Jürgen Krull / for inviting us to his club and talking to me about the history of FKK and Adolf Koch. Jurgen Krull is the President of the Familien-Sport-Verein Adolf Koch e. V. (Adolf Koch Family Sports Association) in Berlin. Mark / for talking to us about this experiences with FKK. Mark is an FKK enthusiast and member of the Adolf Koch Family Sports Association. The DDR Museum in Berlin / for their assistance. The DDR Museum is located in Central Berlin and is open 365 days a year. Colin Delargy & Sabrina Schaffarczyk / for their linguistic assistance and helping Piotr navigate the Berlin FKK scene. John Beauchamp / for becoming Dr Wolle's English voice. John is a seasoned radio journalist, currently working on Unseen Warsaw, a series of soundwalks located in Warsaw.  Credits Written, produced & presented by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Adam Żuławski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Żuławski  

In this bonus episode, you’ll get to hear a song that usually doesn’t leave the thick walls of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Italy.  If you want to know more about Grotowski, check out our two-part story about him in the episodes SEARCH and CONTINUATION. Keep up to date with SFTEW by following us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. And if you like our show, sign up for our newsletter!

The story of a man who mesmerised half a continent... Get it on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Overcast | RSS | Direct download In 1989 the Cold War was coming to an end. Soviet Union and the whole Eastern Bloc were crumbling. There was confusion everywhere. One day, state television channel started showing something really strange. A man, looking like Doctor’s Spock muscly brother, was staring at the camera promising to programme people’s brains and free them from all the pain and suffering. Who was he? Where did he come from? Did his methods have anything to do with medicine or science? Or, was he just another charlatan who profited from people’s insecurities in turbulent times? Listen to MESMERISED, a Stories From The Eastern West episode on the rise and fall of Anatoly Kashpirovsky, a man who mesmerised half a continent. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! You can also follow SFTEW on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Further reading A Common Madness / on bbk.ac.uk Anatoly Kashpirovsky, Russia’s New Rasputin / on TheGuardian.com A Psychic Healer Tried to Hypnotize Soviets to Distract from the Fall of Communism / on Atlas Obscura Memories from growing up in 1990s Poland / on Culture.pl Further watching Kashpirovsky wishing his Youtube followers a happy 2019 / on Youtube A 72-year-old Kashpirovsky lifting 245kg (540lb) / on Youtube The first full episode of Kashpirovsky’s TV show, 8th October 1989 / on Youtube Highlight footage of Kashpirovsky meeting with a live audience in 1989 / on Youtube Footage from the live operation on Lyubov Grabovskaya, 31st March 1988 / on Youtube Thanks Żenia Klimakin / for recounting his meeting with Kashpirovsky from a few years back. Żenia is a journalist at Culture.pl/ru. Krzysztof Rowiński / for delivering wonderful voice over for Żenia Klimakin to open and close this episode. Krzysztof is a PhD scholar in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Maria Litwin / for being resistant to Kashpirowsky's super powers and telling us what she saw, when nobody else was looking. Polina Justova / for becoming the English voice of Maria Litwin. Polina is an editor for Culture.pl/ru and also works as a literary translator and language teacher. Jan Morawicki / for helping us build a political perspective on those hectic times. Jan Morawicki was born in Saint Petersburg in Russia. He is a journalist and anthropologist working at the University of Łódź, Poland Jerzy Oleksiak / for devoting his time to becoming Jan Morawicki’s English doppelganger. Jerzy is a former intern at Culture.pl, but now digs holes in the desert, looking for traces of extraterrestrial presence back in Ancient Egypt. Romuald Polczyk / for explaining why hypnosis can actually work. Dr Polczyk works at the Institute of Psychology at the Jagiellonian University. He wrote his doctoral thesis on hypnosis. John Beauchamp / for becoming Kashpirovsky’s dusty English voice. John is a seasoned radio journalist, currently working on Unseen Warsaw, a series of soundwalks located in Warsaw.   Zuzanna Grębecka / for helping us dig into the meanderings of Soviet pop culture and science. Dr. Grębacka works at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. Grażyna Soczewka / for becoming the voice of Zuzanna Grębecka. Grażyna is head of the Artists & Works section at Culture.pl and is our go-to voice for many of our videos. Marcin Kuropatwa / for inviting us into his childhood memories where Kashpirovsky was capable of anything. Marcin Kuropatwa is an ethnographer and a musician, and works for the National Museum of Ethnography in Warsaw. Credits Written & produced by Monika Proba Edited by Adam Żuławski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak Hosted by Adam Żuławski, Monika Proba & Nitzan Reisner

After having to leave Poland, Grotowski continued his ground-breaking work in the United States, before finding a permanent home in Pontedera, Italy. There he began work on Art as Vehicle, the final stage of his work at the newly-established Workcenter. This work, based around songs of tradition and objective movements, arranged into performance structures, is done more or less in secrecy, away from the prying eyes of the media and mainstream theatrical world. In the late 1990s, the Workcenter started to show its work to select groups of people, and open itself to the world. Listen to Part 2 of our episode on Jerzy Grotowski to find out for yourself what happened there, and what goes on at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards today… You can catch up with Part 1 of this story here. Both these episodes are a Stories From The Eastern West collaboration with the Theatre History Podcast, produced by Howlround Theatre Commons, a free and open platform for theatremakers worldwide, based in Boston, Massachusetts. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:15] Intro [02:26] Meeting Thomas Richards [04:19] Work on acting and songs of tradition [06:57] Period in the US coming to an end [08:28] Transmission of the work [09:34] Flight to Italy [11:00] Beginnings of the Workcenter [12:30] Who are we? [14:24] Members of the Workcenter [16:00] Sacrifices and controversies [18:06] Performance of The Living Room [22:02] Conclusion [24:30] Thanks & credits Further reading Jerzy Grotowski / biography at culture.pl Thomas Richards / biography at grotowski.net Brief History of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards on their official site At Work With Grotowski on Physical Actions / book by Thomas Richards, at amazon.com Heart of Practice: Within the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards / book by Thomas Richards, at Amazon.com Teksty Zebrane (Collected Texts) / complete texts of Jerzy Grotowski at Empik.com (Polish and Italian only) Jerzy Grotowski / book by James Słowiak and Jairo Cuesta, an excellent introduction to his ideas and practice as a theatre director, at Amazon.com Also worth visiting The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards / official site of the Workcenter in Pontedera, Italy Jerzy Grotowski Institute / official site of the Wrocław-based institute Thanks Prof. Paul Allain / for talking to us about Grotowski's life, work, and his important influence on the world of the performing arts. Paul is a Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Kent and former director of the British Grotowski Project. Maja Komorowska / for sharing with us her experience of working with Grotowski and the Theatre of the 13 Rows in the early 1960s. Maja is an acclaimed theatre, film and television actress. Thomas and Cécile Richards / for giving their time and helping make this episode possible. Thomas Richards is the Director of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Pontedera, Italy. Cecile is Richard’s assistant and a member of the centre. The members of the Workcenter in Pontedera / especially Lynda Mebtouche and former member of the Open Program Alejandro Thomas-Rodriguez for sharing their experiences. Grażyna Soczewka / for skillfully providing the English voice-over for Maja Komorowska. Episode credits Michael Lueger (Theatre History Podcast): co-presenter Wojciech Oleksiak: sound design, mixing Piotr Wołodźko: co-presenter, script, production Nitzan Reisner: co-host, sole beacon of light Adam Zulawski: co-host, editor

Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) undoubtedly had a profound infl­uence on the transformation of contemporary theatre over the last 40 years. Starting out as a young director in the Polish provinces, he soon realised that for theatre to reach its true potential as a communion between actor and spectator and survive in the age of mass entertainment, the actor should attain complete mastery over their craft. His small group of actors committed to intensive daily training sessions to achieve this, while Grotowski began to radically experiment with theatrical texts in order to achieve his vision. But having achieved international recognition for his ground-breaking productions in the mid to late 1960s, he decided to leave theatre behind and start all over again….. This episode is a Stories From The Eastern West collaboration with the Theatre History Podcast, produced by Howlround Theatre Commons,a free and open platform for theatremakers worldwide, based in Boston, Massachusetts. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:55] Intro [03:38] The beginning [05:15] A new phase of intensive training [08:16] The rehearsal process [10:31] Out into the world [13:33] Do we need spectators? [15:34] A different direction [17:39] Travels to Haiti [18:11] Dangerous times [19:47] Thanks & credits Further watching Letter From Opole / (1963, dir. Michaela Elstera) short film providing a glimpse into the work of Grotowski's team at the Theatre of 13 Rows in Opole. Only in Polish, but worth checking out for non-Polish speakers nonetheless Further reading Jerzy Grotowski / biography on Culture.pl The Grotowski Glossary / article about his work, on Culture.pl Apocalypsis Cum Figuris / Grotowski's controversial final production, on Culture.pl Maja Komorowska / biography on Culture.pl Towards a Poor Theatre / first published collection of Grotowski's texts, at Amazon.com Teksty Zebrane (Collected Texts) / complete texts of Jerzy Grotowski at Empik.com (Polish and Italian only) Jerzy Grotowski / book by James Słowiak and Jairo Cuesta, an excellent introduction to his ideas and practice as a theatre director, at Amazon.com Also worth visiting The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards / official site of the Workcenter in Pontedera, Italy Jerzy Grotowski Institute / official site of the Wrocław-based institute Thanks Prof. Paul Allain / for talking to us about Grotowski's life, work, and his important influence on the world of the performing arts. Paul is a Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Kent and former director of the British Grotowski Project. Maja Komorowska / sharing with us her experience of working with Grotowski and the Theatre of the 13 Rows in the early 1960s. Maja is an acclaimed theatre, film and television actress. Thomas and Cécile Richards / for giving their time and helping make this episode possible. Thomas Richards is the Director of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Pontedera, Italy. Cecile is Richard’s assistant and a member of the centre. Grażyna Soczewka / for skillfully providing the English voice-over for Maja Komorowska. Episode credits Michael Lueger (Theatre History Podcast): co-presenter Wojciech Oleksiak: sound design, mixing Piotr Wołodźko: co-presenter, script, production Nitzan Reisner: co-host, ambassador of righteousness Adam Zulawski: co-host, editor

The Czech shoe-maker Tomáš Bat'a was a visionary. A deep believer in capitalism, he dreamt up a unique functionalist city and started building it around his factories in the small town of Zlin. It became more succesful than he could have imagined. Bat’a moved on to redesigning how his workers engaged in relationships, spent free-time and were educated – the very way they lived. It seemed that before WWII, Zlin was a unique place, a sort of... living UTOPIA! Our producer Wojciech travelled to Zlin to do a reality check. How was the city doing almost a century after the death of its ‘founder’? Does it still live the utopian dream? What happened to the shoe factories and functionalist twin houses? This episode is a Stories From The Eastern West co-production with About Building and Cities, a highly-respected podcast about architecture. Follow them on Twitterand Instagram, and consider supporting them via their Patreon. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [01:07] Early days of the Bat'a Company [02:43] The Bat'a ground rules [06:50] Luke & George from AB+C break down Zlin's utopian architecture [14:02] Almost a hundred years apart, can we still judge the Batian system?  [19:20] Is it possible to export a city? [24:06] Thanks & credits Further watching Standing on Solid Ground / a gallery of Zlin’s most interesting sites / on Monocle.com Further reading Standing on Solid Ground / on Monocle.com Designing for Living in Czech Republic / from the New York Times Tourist map of Zlin / on use-it.travel Thanks Mariusz Szczygieł / for writing Gottland, the book that was stuck in our producer’s head for over a decade and inspired the whole journey. He is an highly-renowned journalist and writer. Vit Jakubicek / for spending many hours with our producer and explaining the Batian system in great detail. Vit is a curator at the Zlin Regional Gallery and a lecturer at Tomas Bata University in Zlin. Sonya Zhuravlyeva / for sharing her Zlin contacts with us. Sonya wrote an absolutely great article about Zlin for Monocle titled Standing On Solid Ground. She’s a freelance journalist, sub-editor and copywriter based in London. Pavel Velev / for inviting us to the Bata Foundation villa and kindly devoting to us a good portion of his last day at work before he went on vacation. Pavel is director of the Tomas Bata Foundation. Dr Zdenek Pokluda / for beautifully telling us the story of Batian business adventures. He is the author of a trilogy about Batian Zlin and a scholar at Tomas Bata University in Zlin. Milan Balaban / for interpreting our interview with Dr Pokluda. Milan is a scholar at Tomas Bata University as well as a very helpful and kind man. Lucie Smardova / for warmly inviting us to a local event and later to her home in one of the Bata houses. Lucy is an art historian and activist, she organises events popularising knowledge about Zlin’s original architecture and history. Together with her husband, she runs the Bata Infopoint, a good place to start discovering Zlin’s residential area. Episode credits Wojciech Oleksiak: script, scoring, sound design, mixing Adam Zulawski: host, editing Nitzan Reisner: host, guidance and protection Luke Jones (AB+C): co-host George Gingell (AB+C): co-host

In 1863, the 3-year-old Ignacy Jan Paderewski probably wasn’t aware that his fellow Polish countrymen were in the midst of a doomed uprising against the autocratic ruler of his homeland. But he de­finitely knew something was wrong when Russian Tsarist police arrested his father, dragging him away while the young Ignacy tried to stop them. As a young man, Paderewski was determined to do something about his country's plight. It had been completely wiped off the map almost a century earlier, and as the 19th century came to a close, an independent Poland seemed impossible. Using rifles and sabres to win freedom clearly wasn’t going to be enough. A different kind of weapon had to be found. For Paderewski, this weapon would be music... This episode was produced with the help of the National Museum in Warsaw. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:28] The many stories about Paderewski we don't tell  [01:36] Historical Background [03:48] Paderewski chooses music as his weapon of choice... [06:57] ...and becomes a superstar... [11:29] ...only to turn into a politician [15:04] World War I  [21:50] Paderewski puts Poland back on the map... [23:36] ...and returns to music! [25:17] Thanks and credits Further reading Biography of Ignacy Jan Paderewski / on Culture.pl Paderewski, Modjeska & Curie: Shaping Independent Poland from the Outside / on Culture.pl Paderewski by Adam Zamoyski / book on Amazon Celebrating Chopin & Paderewski by Marek Żebrowski / book on Amazon Helena Paderewska: Memoirs, 1910–1920 by Maciej Siekierski / book on Amazon Paderewski / exhibition catalogue from the National Museum of Warsaw Ignacy Jan Paderewski / on Wikipedia Further watching & listening Moonlight Sonata – a feature film from 1937 with the only available footage of Paderewski performing / on YouTube.com Nelson Goerner & the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra play Paderewski's Piano Concerto in A minor op. 17 / on YouTube.com Marek Żebrowski & cellist Lars Hoefs play a concert in Paderewski's former manor / on Youtube.com Marek Żebrowski talks about the Paderewski Festival's youth competition held every year in California / on Youtube.com Thanks Marek Żebrowski / for sharing with us his extensive expertise on Paderewski, and even playing Paderewski’s pieces for us on the piano. Marek is a concert pianist and composer, as well as director of the Polish Music Center at USC Thornton School of Music. He is also director of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, California, Adam Zamoyski/ for telling us about how Paderewski rose to become a world-famous pianist and the first prime minister of a newly-independent Poland. He is a London-based historian and best-selling author. ​​​​Nelson Goerner / for agreeing to talk to us about Paderewski as a performer and composer. Nelson is a renowned Argentinian concert pianist. In 2015, he recorded Paderewski’s piano concerto with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. The National Museum in Warsaw / our partner for this episode, for their knowledge, support and co-operation, especially Ewa Drygalska & Magdalena Pinker. Eliza Rose & Nial Morgan / for tape syncing the interview with Marek Żebrowski at his LA home 9 timezones away. SFTEW team credits Wojciech Oleksiak: editing, scoring, sound design, mixing Piotr Wołodźko: production Nitzan Reisner: host, wind beneath our wings Adam Zulawski: host, script

Did you know that sports stars from behind the Iron Curtain pretty much competed for no money? In this little bonus episode, Władysław Kozakiewicz, the Olympic athlete from our ARM episode, tells of how he won a thousand priceless awards but very little money, and why he still loved competing. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!

Hear the pole-vaulter who offended the entire Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow explain himself. Władysław Kozakiewicz, a pole-vaulter who dominated the event for over a decade, didn’t have much luck during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Despite being a strong favourite, he failed to medal, after his foot broke while taking a warm-up jump. Four years later, he was healthy and ready to make up for the Montreal upset – but there were other adversities to overcome. The Moscow Olympics was overshadowed by a massive boycott – many Western sports powers had pulled out in condemnation of the Soviet-Afghan War. The overall atmosphere was gruesome and to make things even worse, the judges were doing their best to make sure athletes from the Soviet Union won. And then there was the crowd.... easily 70 000 people, booing, jeering and whistling at every non-soviet athlete. Kozakiewicz felt strong and challenged them in the most provocative way possible. If you want to know how it ended, and how far the repercussions of his daring behaviour went, listen to the ARM, the very first episode of Season II of Stories From The Eastern West! This episode is a Stories From The Eastern West co-production with WBUR’s Only a Game. Check out their show and episode archive at http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time Stamps [00:54] The Black Power protest [02:09] Historical Background [03:10] The strange atmosphere of the Moscow Olympics [05:57] How the competition rolled out [08:37] The arm! [11:24] The aftermath of Kozakiewicz's controversial behaviour [13:52] Kozakiewicz's struggles with the Polish communist authorities [16:30] Thanks & credits Further Reading Explaining Kozakiewicz’s Gesture: Poland’s Most Scandalous Arm / on Culture.pl Nie mówcie mi jak mam żyć by Władysław Kozakiewicz / book (in Polish only) on Amazon Władysław Kozakiewicz - Facts and Figures / on Wikipedia The 1980 Moscow Olympics Boycott / on Wilsoncenter.org Why Smith and Carlos Raised Their Fists / from the New York Times U.S. National Anthem Protests / on Wikipedia Further Watching Władysław Kozakiewicz’s winning jump / on YouTube.com Black Power Salute / Mini documentary / on YouTube.com Renaud Lavillenie sets the current World Record  / on YouTube.com Thanks Władysław Kozakiewicz / for sharing his story with us and giving us a ride from the train station to his home on the edge of a forest. Władysław Kozakiewicz is a legendary pole-vaulter, an Olympic gold medallist and a world record breaker. Joachim Ciecierski / for becoming Władysław Kozakiewicz’s English voice. Joachim is a long-time journalist at Radio Poland, Poland’s official international broadcasting station. DJ Spike & Break Da Funk / for allowing us to use Masztalesz, the funky tune playing during the credits and throughout the bonus episode. Credits Karen Given (Only a Game): editing Wojciech Oleksiak: script, scoring, sound design, mixing Nitzan Reisner: host, one-person pep rally Adam Zulawski: host, editing

The new season of Stories From The Eastern West is nearly here! This year, we've really stepped up our game. You'll notice we have a new theme tune, and that's just the beginning... Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!

Discover the relentless climber who changed the world's deadliest sport... In the early 1960s, a woman decided that the way men were dominating the world of mountain climbing didn’t make any sense. She went on to defy the whole community and became an icon, a trail-blazer who energised the whole community of female climbers and proved that women are capable of being self-sufficient, excellent climbers.   Her name was Wanda Rutkiewicz and to date, she is one of the most memorable female climbers, the first European to climb Mount Everest, the first woman ever to climb K2, and the only female climber of her time who could challenge men and prove to them women were equal.   However, underneath all this success there was loneliness, dejection, and desperate efforts to build a normal life outside of 8000-metre-high peaks…   Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:06] A handful of facts before we go [06:56] Wanda’s first Himalayan Experiences [12:10] Mount Everest, K2 and other achievements [19:53] The Caravan of Dreams [23:40] The Decline and Kanchenjunga [29:10] But what is it that makes people climb? Further reading Death Before Failure: Wanda Rutkiewicz & The Golden Age of Polish Mountaineering / on Culture.pl Freedom Climbers by Bernadette McDonald / book on Amazon.com Savage Summit by Jennifer Jordan / book on Amazon.com Wanda Rutkiewicz / on Wikipedia.org A Caravan of Dreams by Gertrude Reinisch / book on Amazon.com Stairway to Heaven / infographic on Economist.com Further watching Art of Freedom / an Adam Mickiewicz Institute documentary about Wanda and other exceptional Polish climbers of the Himalayas Jennifer Jordan: Women of K2 / a WGBH Forum lecture about the first female climbers of K2 Thanks Bernadette McDonald / for sharing with us her memories of Wanda as well as opinions of other climbers that she gathered during the writing of her book Freedom Climbers. Bernadette is a Canadian-born author of several non-fiction books, primarily on mountain culture topics, including Brotherhood of the Rope, Tomaž Humar, and Freedom Climbers. Her most recent book Art Of Freedom, tells the story of another outstanding Polish climber: Voytek (Wojtek) Kurtyka Piotr Pustelnik / for taking time out of his busy day and sharing with us his views on Wanda and mountain climbing in general. Piotr is a legendary climber, and one of the few people who has successfully climbed all fourteen of the eight-thousanders. He recently released his autobiography: Ja, Pustelnik. Samuel Crowin / for putting his field recordings on the Internet and available under a creative commons license. Samuel travelled from the south of India to Nepal and back again in the winter and spring of 2015 and recorded hours of genuine music and ambiances. Thanks to his generous approach we were able to present you the most realistic local music you can get.   SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski, Grażyna Soczewka & Michael Keller

Learn how observing an old Christmas tradition resulted in a mystery that was never resolved. All of us at SFTEW want to thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for staying with us, listening, and for all your emails, comments and reviews. This is why we prepared this little Christmas bonus for you. We hope to see you in 2018, especially all those listeners who have only recently discovered the show. Check out our older episodes, we hope you enjoy them as much as other listeners have told us they have. We’ll be back for one more episode at the start of the year before taking a break to prepare SFTEW Season 2. We’ve got lots more great stories to tell so stay tuned! Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Read more Why Do Poles Leave One Empty Chair on Christmas Eve? Polish Christmas Eve Traditions The 12 Dishes of Polish Christmas How to Survive Polish Christmas Thanks Nina Witoszek / for kindly telling us her Christmas story. Nina is a celebrated author as well as a research professor at the University of Oslo. You / all of our listeners who supported us throughout our first season!

Discover the Iron Curtain's unlikeliest music haven and the people who made it happen. In 1957, the Polish Radio Experimental Studio (PRES) first opened its doors in Warsaw, and would very soon become an important European centre for the creation of exciting and original electro-acoustic music. But how did such a place even come to be built in Poland, just a few years after the death of Stalin and the severe artistic restrictions of Social Realism? In this episode, you will find out what exactly went on inside the strange electronic depths of the PRES, and how through the efforts of its first director, Józef Patkowski, the studio became a 'window to the world', hosting the best composers from both the Eastern Bloc and the West. You'll also hear the remarkable story of Eugeniusz Rudnik, a technician from a small Polish village, who after spending countless hours helping out others with tape machines and signal generators found unexpected success and recognition. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Further listening Psalmus by Krzysztof Penderecki, 1961 Etude aux Chemins de Fer by Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer, 1948 Studie 1 by Karlheinz Stockhausen, 1953 Study for One Cymbal Stroke by Włodzimierz Kotoński, 1959 Symphony - Electronic Music by Boguslaw Schaeffer, 1966 Ode to Light (Sculpture) by Arne Nordheim, 1968 Mobile for Magnetic Tape by Eugeniusz Rudnik, 1965 Further reading The Story Behind the Experimental Music Haven that Escaped Communist Censorship / from Culture.pl The Musical Milestones of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio / on Culture.pl PRES Cheatsheet: Four Giants from Poland's Legendary Music Studio / on Culture.pl A Foreigner's Guide to Polish Electronic Music / on Culture.pl Eugeniusz Rudnik / biography on Culture.pl Full archive of PRES articles on Culture.pl A History of Electroacoustic Music in Poland from the Perspective of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio 1957-1990 / on Sound Exchange Spatial Music: Design and the Polish Radio Experimental Studio / on post at MoMA How Much Rudnik is in Penderecki, and How Much Rudnik is in Nordheim? Interview with Eugeniusz Rudnik / on post at MoMA   Further watching 15 Corners of the World / on Ninateka.pl (Click 'English version' to the right of the player for subtitles) Eugeniusz Rudnik Q&A / from the Polish Cultural Institute in London's Youtube channel Uncovering the Soul of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio link opens page / on Culture.pl's Youtube channel Thanks Antoni Beksiak / for kindly initiating us into the technological and musical history of the studio. Antoni is a music critic, musician and festival curator (Turning Sounds et al.). He leads the bands Niewte and Gęba.  Łukasz Strusiński / for inviting us to the International PRES Conference in Łódź (October 2017) and helping us navigate this topic. Łukasz is a classical music expert and part of the Master Project team at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Agnieszka Pindera / for sharing her knowledge about the studio and those closely involved with it, including Józef Patkowski, Eugeniusz Rudnik and Władysław Sokorski. Agnieszka is a curator at Muzeum Sztuki in Łodź and organiser of the International PRES Conference held at the museum in 2017. Paweł Nowożycki / for talking to us about the iconic Black Room at PRES and its planned re-construction at the new Museum of Modern Art (MSN) building in Warsaw. Paweł is a curator at MSN and head of the PRES reconstruction project. David Crowley / for shedding light on the historical and artistic background of the studio as a place of creative openness behind the Iron Curtain and its important links with Western studios and composers. David Crowley is the Head of the School of Visual Culture at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.   SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski, John Beauchamp, Nitzan Reisner & Piotr Wołodźko

Get to know the doctor who defied prejudices, the media and the entire system to save people’s lives. In 1967, South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first successful heart transplant. This milestone achievement inspired many other clinics to successfully attempt their own heart transplants… but not in the Eastern Bloc. It took almost 20 years, a broken career, great charisma and a truly rebellious man to finally start saving people’s lives by giving them new hearts. In this episode, we delve into the story of Professor Zbigniew Religa, a man who wasn’t afraid to defy old prejudices, the medical system and society, the communist party and hundreds of roadblocks to help others. How did he manage to do that? What does it take to shake an obsolete system and build a modern cardiac surgery clinic in the middle of nowhere? And why do our societies sometimes desperately need rebels? Find out in the latest episode of Stories From The Eastern West. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:00] Background: Christiaan Barnard & the first successful heart transplant back in 1967. [04:00] Why, almost 20 years later, were there still no heart transplants in the Eastern Bloc? [06:09] How one man defied the system and started a revolution that aimed to make heart transplants possible. [09:06] Professor Religa’s work ethic and team-building abilities. [13:55] The programme of heart transplantations begins. [19:00] The first successful surgery brought a flood of patients. Where did they find donors? [20:50] How Professor Religa capitalised on his popularity to save even more people. [23:35] Why does our society sometimes need rebels? Further reading Gods – a movie about Zbigniew Religa’s life / on Culture.pl Polio, Politicians, Pianists Galore: Doctors Who Did More Than Medicine / on Culture.pl The Story of a Famous Photo of Professor Religa / on ZMEScience Doctors Photo Shocked World / on Truth Inside of You Professor Zbigniew Religa / bio on Wikipedia.org Professor Zbigniew Religa / bio on Polska.pl Thanks Dariusz Kortko / editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza Katowice and author of the bestselling biographies of Professor Religa and alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka. For providing us with a great overview of Religa’s life and career. Zbigniew Nawrat Ph. D. / theoretician physicist and pioneering researcher in the artificial organ domain, specifically in heart valve prostheses and blood pumps. For sharing his memories and experiences being Professor Religa’s deputy at FRK – Fundacja Rozwoju Kardiochirurgii.   SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski,  John Beauchamp, Nitzan Reisner & Michael Keller

Throughout the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and the United States used espionage extensively to gather information about the opposing side. To do this, they often relied on individual operatives to provide the information that technology often couldn’t. This episode will focus on one lesser-known Eastern European operative named Ryszard Kukliński, an officer in the Polish Army and a spy for American intelligence. We’ll discuss how Kukliński joined the army and his swift rise through the ranks. We’ll try to understand why he became disillusioned with the army and decided to work with American intelligence. Towards the end of the episode, we explore how his fascinating story can help us to better understand the nature of Cold War espionage. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:46] Kukliński’s early years [06:00] What made Kukliński decide to work with the CIA? [09:50] How did he communicate with the Americans? [12:15] A few of the close calls Kukliński experienced [13:20] The end of his mission and the exfiltration [17:30] Putting Kukliński’s mission into the wider context of the Cold War [22:40] What happened to Kukliński after the fall of communism in Poland?   Further reading Kukliński: How the CIA’s Best-Placed Cold War Spy Escaped the Eastern Bloc / on Culture.pl CIA – The Villification and Vindication of Colonel Kukliński / on CIA.gov Jack Strong – the movie by Władysław Pasikowski / on Culture.pl Colonel Kuklinski’s obituary / on New York Times He Betrayed His State, But Not His Nation? / on Visegrad/Insight David Hoffman’s official website and books / on davidhoffman.com A Secret Life: The Polish Colonel, His Covert Mission, And The Price He Paid To Save His Country (EN) / by Benjamin Weiser Ryszard Kukliński Życie ściśle tajne (PL) / by Benjamin Weiser The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal (US edition) / by David E. Hoffman The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal (UK edition) / by David E. Hoffman Thanks Benjamin Weiser / for kindly explaining all the details of Kuklinski’s mission to us. Benjamin Weiser is a reporter covering the Manhattan federal courts for New York Times. Before joining The Times in 1997, he worked for 18 years at The Washington Post. There he received the George Polk Award and the Livingston Award. David E. Hoffman / for providing us with an outsider’s perspective and putting Kukliński’s deeds into a wider context. David E. Hoffman is an American writer and journalist for The Washington Post and the PBS flagship investigative television series, FRONTLINE. He won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for his book The Dead Hand about the legacy of the Cold War arms race.   SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski, John Beauchamp, Nitzan Reisner & Michael Keller

Delve into the fascinating background of classic horror film Rosemary’s Baby and learn how it was made. In 1968, Rosemary’s Baby debuted in theaters and terrified unsuspecting audiences. The film was a box-office success and was widely acclaimed for its dark plot and disturbing realism. Moreover, many of the controversial issues it grappled with, such as Satanism and pregnancy, quickly made it one of the most iconic films of its generation. But in the aftermath of the film’s release, this story of success quickly becomes one of tragedy and mystery. In this episode, we present the story of an innovative film that completely changed Hollywood and our understanding of how films should be made. You’ll learn about the origins of the film and how a little known director revolutionized Hollywood. We’ll discuss why this film was so unique in terms of style and aesthetic. Finally, we’ll look into the mysteries surrounding the film and the so-called curse of Rosemary’s Baby. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:33] Our guest and film expert Michał Oleszczyk paints the scene [04:27] Why was a little known European director chosen to direct an adaptation of the best selling novel? [08:55] What makes the film stand out? [14:31] Why there are hardly any special effects in Rosemary’s Baby? [16:39] How does the film comment on the current issues of its time? [19:10] Why’s the movie rumored to be cursed? [23:16] Did Rosemary’s Baby changed the horror genre? Further reading Rosemary’s Baby: The Devil Was Not Only in the Details / on Culture.pl Krzysztof Komeda / on Culture.pl 45th Anniversary of Rosemary’s Baby Image Gallery / on Culture.pl Roman Polański Acts First / on Culture.pl The Many Faces of Rosemary’s Baby / on Culture.pl 8 Classic Polish Directed Horrors You Need To Know / on Culture.pl 5 Reasons Why ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Is a Typical Film of American New Wave / on tasteofcinema.com 'Rosemary's Baby' Thrills With Unfathomable Mystery / on NPR.org Rosemary’s Baby : Whimper Against the Machine / on Ruthless Culture Thanks Michał Oleszczyk / for inviting us to Collegium Artes Liberales and telling us everything we wanted to know about Rosemary's Baby but were afraid to ask. Michał is a film critic, University professor, and programmer. Following Michał's social media profiles is definitely a good idea. For English follow twitter/michaloleszczyk and we recommend following his facebook.com/michal.oleszczyk for Polish speaking audience.    SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski, Nitzan Reisner, John Beauchamp & Michael Keller

Discover how Joseph Rotblat went from creating nuclear bombs to winning the Nobel Peace prize. The American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is generally considered to be one of the most, if not the most, important events of the 20th Century. It succeeded in bringing about Japanese capitulation and the end of the Second World War, but, at the same time, marked the advent of nuclear weapons. For the first time in history, civilizations could be completely wiped off the map with the push of a button. For most, this was a terrifying prospect. For a man Józef Rotblat, it was a call to action. In this episode, our hosts will tell you the remarkable story of Józef Rotblat, a nuclear physicist and peace activist. We’ll discuss the suffering he endured in his early life and how this shaped his worldview. We’ll talk about his time at the Manhattan Project and his motivations for leaving. We’ll also dedicate a significant portion of the episode to talking about Rotblat’s lifelong activism and his enduring legacy. Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [02:00] Joseph Rotblat’s difficult youth [05:30] Rotblat’s involvement in the Project Manhattan [10:05] Is it even possible to leave a super secret military project? [12:00] How Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Rotblat become a vocal peace activist [16:50] What led to the founding of the Pugwash Conferences? [19:20] Noble Prize for Rotblat and Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs [21:00] Should scientists take a Hippocratic Oath of some sort? [24:20] Rotblat’s legacy and contribution to anti-nuclear movement Further reading Dr. Rotblat: Or How I Learned to Start Worrying and Fear the Bomb Polonium, Radium, Solidarity, and the Nuclear Bomb Voices of the Manhattan Project War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: Interview with Joseph Rotblat Joseph Rotblat 1995 Nobel Peace Prize Speech (Transcribed) Manhattan Project James Chadwick Thanks Dr. Martin Sherwin / for being so kind and allowing us to interview him during his sabbatical. Martin Sherwin is an American historian. His scholarship mostly concerns the history of the development of atomic energy and nuclear proliferation.   SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski, Lea Berriault, John Beauchamp, Nitzan Reisner & Michael Keller

Learn how a strange unwanted building became a lasting symbol of a capital city. In the first of our two-part series on Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, our hosts discussed the post-war rebuilding of the savagely-destroyed Warsaw and the controversial origins of the palace’s construction. In the concluding part of our series, our hosts dive deeper into the palace’s corridors and explore the massive impact it has had on Warsaw. For example, after initial deliberation, what was the palace actually used for? What did people think of this palace shortly after its creation?  What do they think about it now? Above all, how has this palace, despite the controversy surrounding it, become a cultural icon for the city? Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Time stamps [00:37] Brief recap of our last episode, about post-war Warsaw and the palace’s construction. [03:39] A guided audio tour through the palace itself. [11:20] What did Polish people think about the palace? [13:37] Why did people write letters to the palace and what did they write about? [18:00] How did the palace become the focal point of public debate after the fall of communism? [23:00] How has the palace come to be a lasting symbol of Warsaw? Further reading The Controversial Story of Stalin’s Palace in Warsaw / on Culture.pl Video: The Controversial Story of Stalin’s Palace / on Youtube How Warsaw Came Close to Never Being Rebuilt / on Culture.pl Palace of Culture and Science Website  / official website Belly of the Beast: The Controversial Side of the Palace / on Calvertjournal.com An Interview with Czesław Bielecki / on Freedom Collection Thanks Michał Murawski / for generously devoting his lunchtime to telling us about the social life of the palace. Michał is architecture and city anthropologist based at the Department of Russian, Queen Mary’s, University of London. Maria Wojtysiak / for telling us about her childhood ties with the palace, and explaining why she decided to fight to put it on the list of Poland’s Objects of Cultural Heritage. Maria is a renowned architect and a member of numerous organisations that aim to preserve Warsaw’s historical buildings. Czesław Bielecki / for sharing his ideas about turning the palace into a museum about communism. Czesław is an architect and political activist, a former political prisoner of the communist state, and a democratic dissident. Createtours / for kindly giving us an in-depth tour of the palace and telling us all their entertaining stories about it. The America Programme at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute / for inviting us to their conference about the palace and making the interview with Michał Murawski possible.   SFTEW Team: Wojciech Oleksiak, Adam Zulawski, Lea Berriault, John Beauchamp, Nitzan Reisner & Michael Keller