Soviet Tourism: How did People Get In and Out?

[@simeonsimeonov3319]

There was a joke for Bulgarian tourism from this period. Most of the big factories having established a resourt camps in certain places for their workers. So the joke was that a former partisan working at the factory was on vacation at one of these camps. And when he returned to work a month later, his colleagues were asking: - How was your vacation? - Just like in the war, the Germans were in the hotels, and we were in the woods.

[@onrr1726]

Lol

[@shayk4791]

hahaha

[@brandon074]

LOL

[@Neversa]

Going to Bulgaria was much more easier for a Soviet citizen than even to visit some parts of Crimea. People said - курица не птица, Болгария - не заграница - (Chicken is not a bird, Bulgaria is not a foreign country)

[@teodortodorovski3928]

Well for a long part of the war the Bulgarians were in the same hotels together with the Nazis

[@thunderbeam9166]

My great grandparents were able to go to the USSR in 1962 under the premise of agricultural research. They were well respected potato farmers in the states, so they wanted to see how the soviets did it. They told me how everywhere they visited felt like it was staged, and questions were not encouraged. They ended up befriending a rural family who met the socialist ideals for production, and my great grandpa gave them advice on different tricks he had learned over the years. The father ended up carving a very intricate wooden toy of a bear pushing a board through a saw, and it even moved! I still have that proudly displayed in one of my cases, along with other interesting Soviet artifacts from their visit

[@TheGryfonclaw]

I can't help it, are your great grandparents from Idaho

[@concept5631]

Sounds like quite the journey.

[@thunderbeam9166]

@@TheGryfonclaw No, Wyoming lol

[@mr.pavone9719]

I've read similar accounts of western professionals visiting the Soviet Union. They'd go to see how the soviets did things and they'd see staged situations, few to no questions allowed and being rushed along. One that sticks out in my mind was a welder visiting his counterpart in their home. The apartment was luxurious, even by western standards of the time and the "welder" had un-calloused hands. Definitely NOT a welder.

[@haroldcardona2151]

Thank you for sharing that

[@kgbfiles5713]

My father, serving in the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, visited Algeria and Tunisia - this was almost the only opportunity for a simple young guy to see such exotic countries

[@TheColdWarTV]

Did he ever share if it changed how he thought about the USSR?

[@benkamelmayssem5780]

glad to hear that, I am Tunisian.

[@robertsansone1680]

A friend of mine was in The U.S. Navy. (late 70s to the early 80s) He had a port call in N. Africa. (I have forgotten which country) He met a young Russian woman who spoke good English. Her main questions about life in The U.S.A centered on FOOD AVAILABILITY! He told her that we have grocery stores that are open 24 hours a day where you can buy fish, beef, chicken, fresh fruit & vegetables etc. She laughed in his face & told him, "Your CIA has sure taught you lie well"! I have thought of that woman on occasion & wondered if she thought of that U.S. sailors claims after the end of the Soviet Union. Did she tell herself, "That American wasn't lying"?

[@kgbfiles5713]

@@TheColdWarTV Yes, sailors were quite impressed by Tunisia (Algeria seemed poorer and dirtier) and some of them wondered why locals live better than citizens of the mighty USSR

[@black10872]

@@robertsansone1680 I'm pretty sure after glasnost, and perasrioka she knew you wasn't lying. Even Boris Yeltsin, and Gorbachev didn't believe it was possible for food in America and the entire west could be in such abundance until they seen it for themselves. But in an age before the internet, it was easy for a government to control the flow of accurate information. The KGB knew how well the west had it. But they sure as hell weren't gonna let the people know it is true. If information like that got out, the USSR would've certainly crashed in the 70s.

[@martinstent5339]

One thing I remember about visiting the USSR: When checking into Moscow airport, it was illegal to export Roubles, so you had to change all your Roubles into Dollars before going through the customs/passport checks, and when you finally got through and wanted to buy a coffee while waiting for your plane, you had to pay in Roubles!

[@VisibilityFoggy]

Some countries still have laws that prohibit taking money outside the borders. I managed to sneak some Moroccan dirhams back home to the U.S., but I left the country by boat so there was no real security checkpoint as there would be in an airport (besides having your passport stamped at a manned kiosk at the city's marina).

[@worldcomicsreview354]

@@VisibilityFoggy The air side at Hanoi airport in Vietnam is all in US Dollars. They don't seem to have any issue with Vietnamese money being taken away, though. I still have a 20,000 dong note, and I've been to at least two bars in Japan where the owners have visited Vietnam and bought money away with them.

[@MyH3ntaiGirl]

@@worldcomicsreview354 yeah we don't have such ridiculous rule Like our notes are not that valuable so why even make a stupid rule? Heck i don't remember ever get my wallet check

[@Ben-xe8ps]

@@VisibilityFoggy Morocco doesn't really care about relatively small quantities of Dirhams. The laws are designed to prevent the export of capital rather than worrying if a tourist is taking a few banknotes home with them. I know the port in Tangier quite well. No proper departure information as to which ferry is the next to leave and nothing to stop you getting your passport stamped with an exit stamp then just wandering off and not leaving the country at all.

[@Ben-xe8ps]

@@MyH3ntaiGirl Rules about exporting currency were very common in the past. The Eastern European communist countries all prohibited it to prevent the export of capital. Even here in the UK we had the Exchange Control Act 1947 which was not repealed until 1979. When it was in force the amount of sterling currency that you could exchange into foreign currency was limited and each exchange of currency was recorded in your passport by the bank/bureau de change in the UK where you exchanged it. The amount of sterling banknotes that could take with you was also limited. The amounts of currency you were allowed to exchange increased over time and changed from a per-annum to a per-trip amount. In the mid 60's I think it was £50 per-trip including pre-paid accommodation abroad which if I recall correctly had increased to £500 per-trip plus pre-paid accommodation abroad by the end.

[@charlescole3040]

I served 6 months in the Soviet Union (1972) as a U.S. Government (USIA) exhibit traveling around the USSR. I saw more things than any short-term tourist ever had a chance to see. It was a different planet!

[@cannibalbunnygirl]

A year old comment but I'm intrigued enough to wonder. There's little information of that time

[@Ami-jc2oo]

Me too. What was it like in the USSR (1972) when you visited? Although now this comment is 2 years old...

[@rockguitarist931]

Well, this comment is three years old now but I would like to know more about what you saw. I feel like I'm watching footage of a lost civilization when I watch old films of the USSR, which is weird because it really hasn't been gone for that long.

[@Shre_k__]

My family in India had a pair of binoculars given by a Russian in the 70's. Always wondered why would a person bring something like binoculars from the Soviet union to another country given the general shortage of goods (luxury goods in particular). Thanks for explaining the origin of and the reason 9:15 of a memorable family heirloom. It still works as good as new to this day.

[@rintae4021]

You better keep those. Russian binoculars have been considered to be among the best in the world for very good reason. So they brought them because people in the wast have been rightfully eager to get their hands on thosse. My father owns one too and it is awesome.

[@Ravi-vv7up]

My dad got Soviet army camping stoves in barter exchange back in the 80s. They still work.

[@paulsummerfield6357]

Have a Soviet pair myself with "CCCP" on them. The're quite big and bulky compared with modern day ones, but work as new!

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

In future it would be very valuable so keep it safe🤑🤑🤑😤

[@pedrogonzalesgonzales5097]

Soviet binoculars look at you

[@robertalaverdov8147]

My Grandparents on my moms side travelled all over the world from the 70's to the 80's. They went to Italy, France, Egypt, Mexico, Brazil and the US to name a few. They took me and my older brother along on a few trips. When I was a kid it didn't dawn on me that this was unusual. Only later did I learn that my Grandpa managed to get the permits with his "connections" and a fair bit of bribery. Paid for in no small part thanks to his smuggling and manufacture of illegal western style clothes; jeans, leather jackets and a pair of leather underwear and pants for a Colonel. The soviet union was indeed a closed society for most people. But like everywhere else in the world, money talks.

[@eedragonr6293]

Obviously many lived of illegal black market, all kinds of traffics, counterfeit industry, bribery, official confiscations (meaning theft), corruption etc.

[@jthunders]

Sounds like the communist version of the biden or Clinton crime families.

[@niccolorichter1488]

@@jthunders very much not

[@cybertronbob]

My uncle told me about a garage in my hometown. This garage was opposite the docks in Hull UK and the garage owner was well known for pretty much exclusively buying Lada parts. Sailors from Soviet ships would come in to port, cross the street and exchange any and all Lada components for valuable foreign currency. One of my most treasured possessions is a hat that my grandfather gave me from the Soviet Union. He was a dock worker and told me he got it for £1 in the 1970s from a Soviet sailor who was in port. It's a holds great memories of my grandad and is a neat old thing to have in and of itself so it was really interesting to watch this episode and find out about how and why these little trades took place. Thanks.

[@yvettemoore1228]

I used to live in Hull. All the taxis were Ladas! I had a Samara for years. It was bomb proof and never let me down even in the winter in the 80s when the village I lived in at the time was cut off for a few days and the temperature went down to minus 15

[@stoppos76]

From Hungary there was a group of people sometimes went on to perform in western countries. Germany, Austria. They were dancers, singers, etc. It was forbidden to bring back western currency without the state getting its share, so when the bus came back to the border the guards basically teared it into pieces. So before the border the performers all gave their money to the magician, called Rodolfo. He put it all in his pocket and sat down. The border guard came and told Rodolfo that he will search him. Searched, found nothing and eventually they were back on the road. Rodolfo then pulled out the money from his pocket and everyone was asking how did you do that? Where did you put the money? - When he searched me, it was in hs pocket. - he replied. I heard this story from his son-in-law.

[@terracotta6294]

😭🤣😂😅😅😆

[@StandTallTx]

I was expecting something cliche like "a magician never reveals his secrets", but this ending is so much better lol

[@BartBe]

ABRAKADABSKI!

[@phytosurusgiganteus3461]

el macho!!!

[@andyreynolds6194]

David and the team produce some fantastic content, but every video I watch I’m amazed by the comments that place anecdotes and personal family experiences to flesh out the topic. It’s democratic history at its finest and it’s brilliant to see. Thank you all for telling us all your experiences.

[@timokuusela5794]

When I was kid, in the Sixties, my father was invited to Bulgaria, as he was a prominent cultural figure here in Finland. We were treated like royalties: We were given a certificate that allowed traveling around Bulgaria without any restrictions, a best model of VW for a car, free hotel stayings etc. When driving around Bulgaria, it must have been to the locals like today´s filmstars traveling with a Bugatti Veyron. The police normally demanded stopping at the checkpoints, but only once when they actually stopped us, they went pale when they saw the certificate, stepped back and saluted my father. My father muttered to us that "this is apparently the best piece of paper I have ever had..." Then in the Eighties, we had couple of school trips to Leningrad and Tallinn, Estonia. It was like going to another planet, and the lack of everything but Vodka was shocking. In Tallinn we exchanged money for Rubles, but as there was nothing to actually buy, we ended up with two plastic bags full of money. We decided to give them to our young female quide. She almost fainted, and was able to say that there was at least her salary of two years... Just before the collapse, my father had visitors as culture exchange, the poet Brendojev and his wife. Their first visit in the West. At the train station when I picked them up, a strict lady started questioning me where I was taking them. I answered in even stricter voice asking who she is and why I must answer that. She then got visibly scared, as apparently she thought that I was "more important person than she", as I was later explained. Mrs Brendojeva was shocked when visiting normal Finnish grocery store; she just kept asking "why there are 20 brands on margarin alone..." When old seacaptain Brendojew told me that he had always wanted to have a car, but never got permission to buy one, I decided with my father that he WILL get one from here. My father arranged couple of entry fee happenings where Brendojev read his poems, and with that money he was able to buy almost new used Lada. I have never seen a happier man. I was working at that time at local Caterpillar dealer, and I gave them all kinds of Cat suff, baseball caps, scale models etc. They made good money with those when back home. Russians are kind, romantic, friendly people. I feel sorry for them that they had to endure the Soviet era.

[@0000-z4z]

Wanted they something from the quid?

[@eedragonr6293]

Well, you know, they never fought against the Soviets after Stalin, if I remember correctly.

[@Juhani96]

Perkeleen siisti tarina kyllä 👍

[@davidduchesne8421]

Does your father have a wikipedia page?

[@Cjnw]

OK, Boomer

[@lesleydickens8831]

I went to the Soviet Union in 1987. Definitely a very monitored trip with the tourist co. One of tourists some how got away and went to a local’s house and spent the night. The tour guide completely freaked out! Enjoyed my time there - so interesting! The next year my family was one of the first to have Soviet visitors stay in our home in New Orleans. We had 2 women who were party members and left their families to travel to avoid defection. I remember their eyes when we took them to a grocery store and the mall! We absolutely loved getting to know them. We continued hosting Russian visitors even after the collapse of the USSR since they came to learn about business.

[@kayzeaza]

When my father was in the army in the early 80’s he was stationed in West Germany but could do an army sponsored tour of Berlin. They took a train through Easy Germany to West Berlin and then was able to cross over Checkpoint Charlie and your East Berlin. Obviously all under the watch of the Stazi but still he said it was a pretty cool trip.

[@ExVeritateLibertas]

My father got the pass to do it but ended up deciding not to go for some stupid reason. Decades later one of his biggest regrets.

[@letoubib21]

@@ExVeritateLibertas But he didn't miss anything *. . .*

[@phytosurusgiganteus3461]

so lucky

[@andypre1667]

I am a (West) German and travelled by car to the Caucasus in 1987 as a 14 year old. Not with Inturist, though. The company my dad worked for had a project in Ordzhonikidse/Vladikavkaz, and my dad arranged for installer visas for my brother and me, to tag along as he and a colleague drove a VW T3 there for the western workers to use. Since we weren't tourists, we stayed in a regular panel block and were free to move about by ourselves. I still have the visa and my plane ticket from Ordzhonikidse to Moscow, which was 31.50 rubles at the time. We also tried to go on a short trip to Tbilisi, but the police made us turn around due to "road problems". My dad later found out that they did not want foreigners in Georgia due to civil unrest.

[@nemeczek67]

I often travelled through the USSR by car with my parents. We had to stick to one route and at every major junction there was a GAI (traffic militia) outpost where our documents were checked and quite often an attempt to extort money was made. Every time we crossed back into Poland, I was smiling from ear to ear.

[@black10872]

How were you able to get around? The Soviets falsified their road maps on purpose.

[@chris123abc]

​@@black10872 When my dad (from Poland) travelled there, he said there were literally 1 or 2 roads to travel on, and the militia would stop you at every junction. They knew your location at all times. You had no excuse to "get lost".

[@klimankhmeron7636]

After 91' polish road bandits became worse than soviet GAI

[@dusankrmar3304]

@@chris123abc My dad had an older colleague from Russia who told him a similar story. He was an assistant professor at a university so he and his professor went to Poland for some "conference", which wasn't a conference but just them taking a trip to their Polish friends they studied with and having fun. They did such things every year, sometimes even two times as the authorities turned a blind eye on them. This is the late 70s, early 80s. So, one time they were going by car instead of plane and they wanted to visit some mutual friend along the way somewhere in Belarus for coffee and just to see him and take a small break. At the next checkpoint they were stopped and the officer told them that they should have passed the checkpoint 6 hours earlier. They tried explaining it to him, but to no avail. They were sent to the local KGB office and held for two days and interrogated. They were let go, but were controlled much more. So, for a good 7-8 years until the 90s they couldn't go anywhere abroad for conferences, nor could they go to vacation in Crimea as they used to, because they couldn't receive a permit (propiska I believe it was called). His professor had some incidents with the party earlier and was even more monitored so he had problems going to Moscow and visiting his family (he lived some 300km away, so not far away). The worst thing about it, both the guys remained hardcore Soviet lovers crying and whining about the "good old days."

[@scudb5509]

My grandfather was one of 3 top people responsible for the construction of Al Jufra air base in Libya. He was a Soviet citizen and brought his family with him for some time. My mother managed to see some American cartoons and movies that were never shown in the USSR. My mother also went to the US as part of the cultural exchange thing you talked about.

[@jjqq9456]

Your parents are basically elites back in the USSR.

[@ivarkich1543]

A group of Soviet tourists is visiting a capitalist country. One of tourists asks to the group: - Who is the leader of this group? - I am, - someone aswers. - How to say in English: "I need for political asylum."? - Who asked this?!!! - another worried voice asks from the deep of the group. - It's ok, no worries. I just wanted to get to know who is the leader of the group.

[@theawesomeduo54]

Good old russian anecdotes

[@Jerrycourtney]

Okay Ronald Reagan 🤣

[@Melanie16040]

I laughed way too much at this! Thank you!

[@surendramumgai631]

Most soviet citizens loved their country and would never think of defection

[@ivarkich1543]

​@@surendramumgai631 Did you live in the USSR?

[@andymendez7710]

I went to USSR with a college study tour group in 1990, we had to have our InTourist guide with us at all times. She was very nice but we were always messing with her by asking if she was KGB and she would say no KGB, no KGB. We toured sites associated with famous novelists and took a very long train ride from Moscow to St. Petersburg during which we played drinking games with the conductor, who drank us under the table. The highlight was when a cab driver drove a few of us all over St. Petersburg to sightsee in the middle of the night during one of the White Nights.

[@emeraldfinder5]

You played drinking games with a Soviet train conductor… you were never going to win that one 😅

[@ComradeHellas]

good story

[@HistoryHustle]

Cool episode! My parents travelled to the USSR in 1980 and went to Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In 2019 I visited the places together with my mother she went to in 1980!

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

Bro I found you here too 👍😅

[@hughmungus1767]

I'll bet your mother saw some dramatic changes from her first visit to Moscow and Leningrad/St. Petersburg!

[@FromRussiawithvideo]

Just in time.

[@yourstruly4817]

In Soviet Russia, office visits tourists

[@runi5413]

In Soviet Russia, travel-suitcase packs you

[@DrillEntertainmentNetwork]

Haha shut up

[@devenmacintosh4124]

In Soviet Russia, KGB travels you

[@Cjnw]

OK, Boomer

[@yourstruly4817]

@@Cjnw I'm no boomer

[@garyfrombrooklyn]

I have enjoyed this clip, submitted documentation and received the proper signatures to press the bell button. However, I have been advised such a move is a provocation. Feeling such advice is anti-detente, I have gone ahead and pressed the bell button and clicked like. Seriously, well done. I’ve learned so much from this channel.

[@Keefan1978]

A very good and fun video. Thanks! Living in Estonia I'll add, that the picture was of course a bit more detailed and complex than it's possible to show in such a short video: from the late 60s onwards it was possible to visit Soviet Union also on individual basis. It was also strictly controlled, the tourists were meant to stay in Intourist hotels and visit Intourist restaurants, but at least in the case of Estonia it just wasn't possible and historians have now published quite hilarious documents where local KGB complains the local party central committee about the 'deluge' of Finnish tourists (in the 70s and 80s at most 1000 tourists per day, up until Covid it was more like 100 000 day-tourists and depending on the time of the year 20 - 50 000 overnight stays) in Tallinn and the impossibility to track all of them individually. A second group who was able to visit Soviet Union sometimes individually were émigrées, people having relatives in Soviet Union. This is also a policy that completely changed after the Great Moutache took a trip to the Eternal Gulag. Until then there was a total NO regardin émigrées, but slowly the policies changed and especially in the case of the Baltic republics KGB thought that allowing them to visit the socialist paradise it would be possible to make at least some of them somewhat friendlier towards the system. And so at least some of the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians living in the West started visiting old home again. It was actually a complicated issue also from the point of view of the exile communities and for example there is a case where a renown American-Estonian journalist visited Estonia without telling his friends in the USA where his going to. He just said - to Europe. Only after visiting Estonia and getting back to the States he sort of 'came out' with the fact where he had actually been to and it started a small scandal in the American Estonian community as there were many hardliners who thought that visiting Soviet Union means recognizing the occupation. This was in the 60s. But that's already another story. :D Once more - thank You for an interesting video!

[@eksiarvamus]

This sentiment of not wanting to legitimate Soviet rule by visiting Soviet-occupied Estonia persisted until the end of the Soviet occupation, but the views generally got a bit softer and nuanced - it was more like a personal dilemma than a hardline approach.

[@AuthenticDarren]

In the 80,s, when I was at school in the UK, our school would offer for those interested, a summer trip to the USSR, for 5th and 6th formers I think. A story that came back from one of these trips was from a high building in Leningrad where a panoramic of the scenic parts of the city could be seen. Unfortunately for some tourists a small part of the military port was just visible through a few buildings from one angle. Anyone caught pointing their camera in this direction would have their camera seized and all their film reel pulled out on the spot before being handed back their camera!

[@JClore1950]

I visited the Soviet Union in 1974 as part of a tour sponsored by the Russian Language Club at Syracuse University. I have to differ with much of what you said. We were able to go off on our own away from our Intourist guides, and did so on several occasions. Soviet citizens approached on the streets and were very friendly. They had many questions, especially for us Black tourists. I had a very interesting trip, but I would not want to return there now.

[@JoseLopez-ox6en]

Very interesting about the start of Soviet tourism. My grandmother told me that she and my grandfather took a trip to Europe about 1928 to avoid political unrest in Cuba. When they visited Russia, they were paired up with a Spanish count and countess, and traveled from Berlin to Moscow by train. Upon arrival, they were met by a young woman from Intourist, whom my grandmother swore spoke better Spanish than any of them. Though they had handlers, one night my grandfather decided to ditch the handler one night, and they went walking about. They were very impressed upon coming upon a small group of women and children huddled around a fire, and that the only thing they had to eat was black bread. My grandfather gave them what money he had, and they went back to the hotel. That was the only time they saw the real conditions in Russia, as the handlers made sure they saw nothing detrimental to the image the Soviets wished to portray.

[@lukebruce5234]

probably wasn't anything unusual at the time anywhere in the world with the exception of the richest countries

[@thunderbird1921]

Sounds like North Korea today.

[@DaFinkingOrk]

@@lukebruce5234 Yeah, we are talking 1928!

[@MrJeanNunes]

And the revolutionary war had ended not even 10 years prior to your grandfather's visit, so it's reasonable to think they were dealing with a lot at the time.

[@greatwolf85]

@greatwolf85 1 second ago Yeah, very much like a tourist guide in New York will not take you on a train ride through the Bronx, and the tourism agency won't send you to check out the rural south either.

[@hanzup4117]

I can already tell this is going to be a good episode. You guys always pick the most interesting topics.

[@scottlarson1548]

My Russian coworker (who is in his 60s) said that to travel out of the Soviet Union, his boss had to sign a document saying that his employee knew no "state secrets". He said what this was *really* asking is, "How likely do you think he's going to return to the Soviet Union?" because officially the only reason anyone would want to defect is if they have state secrets to offer enemy nations. Of course he didn't know any state secrets, but his boss refused to sign it since it would put him in hot water if he defected.

[@olegkirovskii2720]

If the guy is 60 now, the story must have happened in the 1980s at the latest. At that time, defecting was very easy, as per US laws almost anyone from USSR was eligible for refugee status. I bet if the US opens up in such a way to any country (besides the "old EU", probably), the rate of defection will beat that of the USSR

[@scottlarson1548]

@@olegkirovskii2720 Um, you do realize that defecting from the USSR involved traveling out of the Soviet Union, right?

[@olegkirovskii2720]

@@scottlarson1548 yes, sure That's the point Travelling out of the ussr was so hard because outside defecting was so easy

[@scottlarson1548]

@@olegkirovskii2720 So it was wasn't the fault of the Soviet Union? 😂😂😂

[@n40798]

So who signed the document? Or did he end up not traveling?

[@ZedTee190]

Recently discovered this channel and thoroughly enjoying it! I'm a 22 year RAF vet, spent a few years in W Germany in the early 80s. I'd love to see a video on Soxmis and Brixmis and I'm sure other viewers would too!

[@TheColdWarTV]

Welcome aboard! What job(s) did you do in the RAF? And we are going to get to BRIXMIS/SOXMIS but if you are keen for a fix of that now, The Cold War Conversations Podcast has done several outstanding interviews with several gentlemen involved in those operations. Well worth your time, if you have not yet listened.

[@ZedTee190]

@@TheColdWarTV My trade was admin, but it's not as dull as it sounds! Wherever there was a base, I could get a posting there. I had some great and not so great tours, and some fabulous detachments (tdy). Back in 1981 I arrived at RAF Wildenrath, W Germany. The first week was spent on arrival and orientation procedures - how to drive on the wrong side of the road, first aid, weapon training, filling sandbags- all good stuff! We were briefed about Soxmis and what we should do if we spotted one of their cars; we were issued a small card aide-memoir with phone numbers to ring. Couple of years later and I'd been cross-posted to RAF Bruggen on one of the Jaguar squadrons. We had a visit by Brixmis. I was enthralled by some of the tales they told us and being shown around the cars they used was fascinating. I left Germany the day before the infamous WE177 incident. Returned in 1996-1999. but the cold was was long over and the world was a much safer place...

[@FrazzP]

My Finnish dad visited the USSR so many times, he once got interrogated at JFK in New York because of the tens of soviet passport stamps, being asked if he was a communist or something. He also went on cruises down the Volga and sold blue jeans in Leningrad. The former he says he liked immensely, and that the scars on Volgograd were still visible decades later. I think he was able to move around kinda freely due to the Militsiya and other bureaucrats being so easy to bribe with foreign cigarettes and other 'luxury' goods.

[@eetutorri8767]

Well Soviet "tours" in here Finland were quite popular, to in and out of Soviet Union, roughly hitting the peak in 1980s. Most of the trips being educational, sort of, but turning more towards relaxation (i.e. getting wasted) as years went on. Naturally, most common import would had been Vodka, often meant actually for tourists. And much cheaper in dollars then in Finnish marks in some cases. And if when you ever you ran out of money? Just sell your passport to some local and claim you "lost" it when you want to return to home by consulate (for free). Although I have read few cases that this return trip was denied on basis that this having happaned too many times.

[@1joshjosh1]

Thank you for sharing!!

[@jkarra2334]

Idiot...you could not "lose" your passport as you was given russian tourist passport "propuska" your passport was taken away and you traded it back with that propuska when you exited russia... Trust me, i actually travelled there in 80s

[@shayk4791]

@@jkarra2334 No need to be an asshole

[@jkarra2334]

@@shayk4791 no, but still, did you visit CCCP in 80's ? I did.in Russia, in Estonia and Lithuenia and Latvia...many times...

[@shayk4791]

@@jkarra2334 I'm not questioning your credibility... I just think you can correct someone without being a dick

[@joeypatapas8840]

My father’s aunt visited the USSR in (I think) the 1960’s (sadly they are both deceased so I can not confirm when this happened). While on their tour, Auntie took lots of photos, even when she was told not to. After several stern warnings the guide suddenly stopped saying anything about it. When they got home and had the photos developed, it turns out that their pictures were blank! What they surmise was that one evening when they went out for supper, someone entered their hotel room and “fixed” their camera!

[@valde3336]

Individual tourism was actually allowed from Finland already from 60s. Maye even from 58. Basically you had to have planned route and stops. Only some roads were allowed. I have seen some map where those roads were marked.

[@Ben-xe8ps]

Aged 14, I accompanied my grandmother on an organised weekend trip to Moscow in 1975. I believe it was a quite expensive upmarket/top of the range trip as we were accommodated at a nice but old fashioned looking hotel in central Moscow with lots of coach tours included, including an evening visit to a Bolshoi Ballet performance in a very large theatre. I don't remember our guide very well but I think she was friendly enough. I recall that in the hotel our group was fed in a separate dining room (all meals were included) and therefore have no idea of how what we were fed compared to what other guests may have received. I can't remember anything being wrong with the food or anybody voicing any dissatisfaction although I can remember starters of Russian salad and Borsch. We were allowed out of the hotel unaccompanied and I purchased, I think from the GUM store - it was a large department store anyway, some model aircraft kits of Aeroflot aircraft including the IL18 and Ilyushin 62, something to impress the boys at school when I returned home! Although this was a UK originating tour I recall that there were a number of Americans in our group. One disappointment was the fact that the Soviet visa was issued as a separate document and no USSR entry or exit stamps were put in the passport leaving no record in my passport of my visit to the USSR. I also had the experience of visiting communist Albania, I think in 1976, which was a much less pleasant experience. No, my grandmother wasn't a communist, she just liked visiting unusual places and could afford to indulge herself. In the early 1950's she took herself and my mother, then a teenager, off on a cargo ship for a 2 week holiday in the Canary islands! Returning to the subject of Albania, it was of course an organised tour. We flew on JAT via Belgrade. On arrival at Tirana airport, you didn't go through the usual formalities like at any other airport. Instead, our passports were taken away by a man (presumably a policeman) standing at the foot of the aircraft steps and we were shown into a large room which resembled a sort of old fashioned tea room with tables with white tablecloths. We were probably served tea or something, I don't remember. After a while our guide came to tell me that my hair was too long and I was required to have a haircut. So myself and some other male members of our group were taken off to the airport barber and given a free haircut. Some male passengers (not me though) were informed that their trousers were too flared and were provided at no charge with locally produced cheap looking jeans to wear for the duration of their stay. Our passports were returned to us, stamped at the back with a small R P Shqiperise entry stamp on the back page. Our guide was a plump young lady named Spressa (or something like that) who spoke fluent English. We were fed lots of propaganda. We thought that we would be staying at a hotel on the coast for the duration of our stay with various tours included but that was not to be. We were told that the hotel was not available and instead taken for the first night to a hotel in central Tirana then spent the rest of the time on a coach tour of the country, a different hotel each night. I got the impression that these hotels were being opened up just for our group and were usually cold. I was unimpressed by the food. We visited museums, factories and a state farm. Very educational no doubt but not exactly what we had booked. My grandmother said she didn't really want a coach tour and asked if we could stay at the Tirana hotel for the duration of the holiday but was firmly told no. This doesn't surprise me as obviously they wanted the entire group to remain together with the guide. Having said this though I would say that we were well taken care of and looked after probably to the best of their ability. On the day of our departure we returned to Tirana airport. The incoming JAT flight from Belgrade never arrived. Apparently JAT cancelled it as there were no incoming passengers and just our group on the return sector. Our poor guide was clearly out of her depth at this point and had no idea what should be done with us. The exit stamps in our passports were cancelled with a red X and we were taken back to the hotel in central Tirana. I don't know who should take the credit for the excellent arrangements which were made for us, the Albanians, the tour operator back in the UK or JAT, but the next day we were driven to the frontier at Han i Hotit, crossed by foot into Yugoslavia, where the Yugoslav boarder guards had never encountered such a thing as a group of British tourists before, then by coach to Titograd airport to be flown to Belgrade by JAT then re-routed to London via Munich on JAT and BA. The Han i Hotit exit stamp must be almost unique in our Passports as this route was not normally open to foreigners. The Yugoslav entry stamp is completely illegible due to almost no ink. Participating in this trip to Albania were 2 or 3 single men in their late 20's or 30's who didn't seem to fit in to the mould of typical participants in such a tour. I have often wondered who they were and their reason for being there. Definitely British but not your typical holidaymaker/tourist types.

[@foowashere]

What an amazing story about Albania! A very unique experience for sure. Thanks for sharing!

[@Ben-xe8ps]

@@foowashere thank you for your nice comment

[@angelovalavanis2314]

I remember when Albania was liberated and people started to cross the border illegally through the mountains into Greece looking for work. They looked like they were time travelers from their old fashioned hair styles, their clothes that looked like they were from the 1950's-1960's as well as their shoes which were really old and in bad shape. I also remember how thin and frail they all looked. As a Greek I'm very glad they finally got rid of this oppressive regime and introduced free elections and the Free Market. Yet, in The West many uneducated young people yearn for communism. I will never understand this... If you have never lived without freedom, you don't know what freedom means.

[@williamtell5365]

I'm American. I travelled to Leningrad in 1988 with a mostly swedish tour group. We took the boat to Helsinki and then a bus into USSR. The trip was freaking fascinating, I'll never forget it. I'm glad I had a glimpse of that society before the communist regime collapsed.

[@laidbacktaps1362]

I've been watching this channel since it was introduced and have never been disappointed.

[@JTA1961]

True 👍 enough

[@ALFAGOMMA]

I travelled to the USSR in late 1984, flying to Khabarovsk in the Soviet far east from Niigata in Japan. I was with a small group of six Aussies, plus two Kiwis, two American uni students and about 12 Japanese. The In-tourist guide, a bear of a man called Alexei, was only tasked with assisting the Japanese. Our group was too small, so nobody was assigned, but Alexei took us under his wing anyway. In a friendly way, we tormented him about the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan as he tried to defend the Soviet position ("we were invited"). We also teased him about In-tourist being an arm of the KGB, asking him each morning whether he'd finished his nightly report to KGB headquarters. Once he got used to our humour he retaliated in kind and he became very friendly. His often repeated phrase was "It is a pity". We spent two weeks travelling across Siberia, eventually to Moscow, and finally Leningrad. The mainly working-class passengers and staff on the train were incredibly friendly once they saw our Kangaroo badges and realised we were not American. Conscripts got on the train at various stations and sat in the aisles because they were not allocated seats, and drank themselves asleep. One was a sub-mariner was from Vladivostok heading back to Moscow who described his mother-in-law as a "dragon". In Moscow we were constantly approached by people to buy/sell contraband or US dollars. We spent New Years Eve in Red Square with thousands of others. As soon a midnight passed, police moved in to shoo everybody away. We had a great time. Six months later I travelled to East Germany and East Berlin. That was a very different, and sometimes scary experience, and I found myself being watched on several occasions by the Volkspolizei, especially if I approached any East Berliners, such as a group of uniformed school kids in a park. Security personnel at the main railway station looked like Gestapo officers in peaked caps, Jodhpur pants, high leather boots and side-arm. It was a relief to get back to West Berlin.

[@socire72]

very informative, but the USSR really was invited to Afghanistan, by the government. The US-funded Taliban was rebelling against the government.

[@Rock-xn3sp]

@@socire72 Bro, they literally killed the guy who invited them and installed their own leader in his place. That kind of rescinds the invitation.

[@oldesertguy9616]

Fascinating color footage. I don't think I've ever seen color film of Lenin before.

[@Patrick_3751]

It's most definitely colorized footage.

[@oldesertguy9616]

@@Patrick_3751 I figured as much but I've never seen even colorized footage of Lenin before.

[@РусланЗаурбеков-з6е]

@@Patrick_3751 It is. Colour filming did not exist in 1924, when Lenin died.

[@Drunken_Master]

My family was camping in Greece in the late 80s and next to our plot was a family from Poland. They also brought a bunch of stuff with them (binoculars, torches, toys...) to sell in exchange for foreign currency (deutsche marks), they even sold the caravan at the end.

[@kyisin7457]

I'm not from former Soviet Union. Not even born in Cold War time. But I worked as tourist guide under Myanmar military dictatorship before the opening-up. The system is quite similar to what you had described in this documentary. Even in late 2010s, just before civilian government under Aung San Suu Kyi came into power, we were given strict instructions to not to let our clients go out of proposed itinerary and never raise any topics related to the politics. I can kinda imagine what life of a Soviet tourist guide may look like

[@inconnu4961]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing this!

[@rustomkanishka]

I hope you and your loved ones are safe. The current situation is quite precarious if the media is to be believed. I wanted to visit Myanmar (then Burma) as from what I was told, my Iranian grandfather took refuge there for a year or two after the second world war because he did something naughty and the Bombay Police after him. (Mumbai). While none of us are Zoroastrians you can meet Zoroastrians with the surname "Rangoon-wala" meaning "from Rangoon" (erstwhile name for Yangon)

[@nickkuz11]

My grandfather used to serve in the Baltic sea shipping company and visited many Western countries (West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Canada and some others) throughout 1970s to early 1990s. I still like listening to his stories from these times.

[@elendal]

Expeditions were really popular in USSR. People would go to the mountains, take long trips on wild rivers, ski, etc. Whole musical genre, tourist songs, songs to sing at camp site was invented / popular.

[@knicklas48]

Was in Russia for 2 weeks in Sept. 1979. Moscow, Kiev, Yalta & Leningrad. The guides were not so tight as you say. We could go places by ourselves and even skip organized outings. Did a black market money change in Red Sq. Skipped a 'folk dance concert' to go to the Soviet Army Museum in Moscow. Stayed at the old Rossiya Hotel in Moscow.We did get taken to all the Lenin statues and Lenin Sqs. available. Couldn't take pics of train stations, power plants etc. We had an American guide for the trip - Harvard grad and we went out with her some evenings. The American company General Tours organized the trip and we had nothing to do directly with Intourist. I enjoyed the trip a lot.

[@darthsoldier6939]

My mother wanted to travel from here (czechoslovakia) to yugoslavia for holiday so they had the secret police essentially going around all the neighbors in the housing bloc asking about her family and behavior etc... Our friends emigrated to austria while on holidays in yugoslavia

[@phytosurusgiganteus3461]

Pretty interesting life at that time. when yugoslavia was safe

[@richardpodnar5039]

My friend's family did the same thing when there was a brief period in the 60's when Czechoslovak citizens could travel together as families to Yugoslavia. My friend's mother informed her mother-in-law about their intention to drive into Austria so that the old woman could clear things out of their apartment before it was sealed by the security forces upon learning of their defection.

[@kasparkoppel1144]

My grandfather traveld to Egypt. To fund the trip he sold a lether jacket in Kairo, before returning to Soviet Union he bought a camera for left over money, wich he sold in Moskow. In the end he had more money than before the trip. My aunt had a trip to USA in the end of 80.s and she brought some sweets from there. My parents kept it in a cabinet with a class door. I knew that these sweets were something very special as my parents used the word import - that word ment something expensive and very hard to get.

[@jamesreynolds5776]

Where did your aunt visit in US?

[@kasparkoppel1144]

@@jamesreynolds5776 San Francisco. We had relatives there who left Estonia in 1944

[@Poctyk]

My Grandfather told me that he was outside USSR once, IIRC in early 80's. Getting permission was also one of 2 times he was in KGB "for talk" (Nothing serious, more of a reminder that since he isn't part of communist party, they will be watching him, closely)

[@megaoworos0680]

This isn’t a story about visiting the USSR itself, but my grandmother worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency during the Cold War and, after Chernobyl, she was sent to the GDR to find out about the effects that the meltdown had in the area. She told me about how she had a Stasi agent to keep an eye on her, and how she was taken to a few places around Berlin, namely the Pergamon Museum. (which I believe was closed to the public at that time) When we went to Berlin a few years back she had wanted to see the Ishtar Gate again, which we were able to. Apparently she got to visit Leningrad in I think 1991, but I’d have to ask her about it to be able to relay that particular story

[@hughmungus1767]

I was on a tour that that visited the Pergamon Museum in 1983. (It was one of those 10 countries in 20 days bus tours and we saw both East and West Germany and East and West Berlin.) I wonder why it was closed when you were there years later?

[@megaoworos0680]

It was open when we went to Berlin and we got to visit it when we were in the city, (I still have a few photos from the museum actually) I could’ve worded that part better in hindsight lol so apologies for the confusion

[@Mondo762]

Back in 1976 I met a Russian Merchant seaman in Kobe, Japan. We were both waiting for a launch back to our ships. Communication was difficult so I eventually pulled out a bottle of vodka and showed it to him. He smiled and showed approval. The reason I posted is to say there was some interaction without any sort of chaperone from the USSR. The KGB couldn't be everywhere.

[@maximthemagnificent]

One of my teachers in middle school took a trip to the Soviet union. Said one of the people in his tour group found a not very well concealed bug under the wallpaper of the hotel room they were assigned so they gathered around it and sang God Bless America the night before they left. No idea if it was true, of course.

[@Lanoumik]

There is a Czech girl, who studied in North Korea about 10 years ago. She said, that when she found out their rooms are bugged, once she needed something, she would complain about it aloud in the evening and the next day it “magically” appeared in her room :).

[@davidp.7620]

@@Lanoumik Apparently, two Cuban diplomats who were on a visit to North Korea wanted to check if they were being listened to, so one of them said to the other "Kim Il Sung seems to be such a great man. I wish I could read him in Spanish". Needless to say, the next day they received two Spanish translations of one of his books.

[@Ozzianman]

@@Lanoumik How do someone end up studying in North Korea? Find the idea of it weird.

[@Lanoumik]

@@Ozzianman think it was at the time of thaw when Kim Chong Il was still alive . Funny thing was , she applied for study in South and North Korea but switched the motivational letters by mistake. So she sent the South Korean one to North Korea. Czech ambassador was summoned to explain it and eventually said she is not "politically orientated" or something in the sense. So she ended up there. But I believe she's now banned from entering as she works with North Korean escapees.

[@Lanoumik]

@@Ozzianman Could not find any of her videos whioch would be in english . Just this article of czech pro-north-korean webpage criticising her book :) www.kldr.info/critique-of-the-slanderous-work-of-nina-spitalnikova/

[@sUi5Udos]

I first visited Russia in March of 1991, about six months before the collapse of the USSR. On each hotel landing sat a stern faced old lady with a row of medals across her chest. Her job was to observe the comings and goings of tourists. At breakfast the food and the service left much to be desired. When the head waiter's turned his back the waiters would lift the cloth on their trolly to reveal military goods for sale. Great bargains were had by some on that trip.

[@KiraC-q8g]

The Intourist hotels were a hotspot for intrepid businessmen with an eye for foreign goods and clothing, as well as sex workers, some of them of course involved with the KGB. As to the business of getting money while on travel, there was this Soviet joke: A Soviet orchestra goes on tour. They hold the final meeting before they leave. The conductor says: "So first we go to England, buy wool. Then we go to Japan, sell the wool and buy gadgets. Then we come home, sell the gadgets and get the cash. Any questions?" "I have a question. Do I need to bring the violin?" As always, great work on the episode!

[@CptInside]

The last one remembered me of the movie "moscow in New york" ^^

[@brandon074]

@@CptInside I think you mean "Moscow on the Hudson." That movie had Robin Williams in it.

[@CptInside]

@@brandon074 😅 i know, thats the title in german language. Didnt realized it is different in englisch ^^

[@brandon074]

@@CptInside Yeah I forgot that movie titles are different in many countries due to different translations.

[@julesroy]

@@brandon074 Probably because most people outside the US would've been unfamiliar with "the Hudson".

[@hebneh]

I remember reading the experience of a young man whose burning goal in life was to escape from the USSR. To do this he became a merchant sailor, and he had to wait years till he finally was able to go ashore in New York City. In a closely-guarded group he was taken to Macy's to be able to buy a souvenir. He bought some hair pomade, then "accidentally" left it behind so that just as the group was being led out the door, he could claim he needed to quickly run back for his purchase. Instead, in a blind panic, he just ran as fast as he could to another exit and then continued for as long as he physically could, through the streets. It worked.

[@shaider1982]

I remember a line from the novel "The Hunt for Red Ocotber" :" the bastard should work for Intourist"🤣

[@briantayler1230]

I knew an Australian couple who actually met while as tourists in the mid 70's in the USSR. They took in some US dollars that they sold for buckets full of Rubbles. There was an amazing department store that only took US dollars not Rubbles where you and party leaders could buy anything very cheap.

[@ValiantB2]

I received the appropriate permissions to state that this was a very interesting episode! Good work comrades.

[@markyaremko8031]

When we lived in the USSR, my brother and his friend discovered old Austrian foot paths going into Romania. The crossed the border illegally, and back just to prove it could be done. He was 14 at the time. Also, a popular destination for Soviet tourists was Yugoslavia which also had visitors from the West. Many Soviet citizens with families in the West would often meet/reunite in neutral though Soviet Bloc Yugoslavia.

[@eedragonr6293]

And? They 've reached out to the "free world" or they still were in the communist bloc?

[@terrorgaming459]

@@eedragonr6293 free world was the eastern block

[@eedragonr6293]

@@terrorgaming459 yes, the comment above shows what "freedom" they didn't want anymore in the Eastern bloc. If they were interested in that kind of freedom, communism was still existing in the Eastern bloc. Freedom doesn't exist for the determinists and freedom is surely not a communist value.

[@nothke]

Yugoslavia was never a "Soviet Bloc" tho, especially after the Tito-Stalin split. But it was a socialist coutry independent from Soviet influence.

[@claudiumitrache]

Austria nor is or ever was nowhere near Romania…walking the distance between the 2 countries’ borders is out of the question

[@lizhumble9953]

The comment about the jeans reminded me. When I went to Germany in 1993 on an exchange even though the Berlin Wall had fallen a few years before, American jeans were still very coveted. If you had a good pair of Levi’s you could sell them for 4-5 times what you paid for them for extra spending money.

[@N_0968]

My grandfather (RIP) was in the Soviet Navy (family tradition, his brothers did the same) and visited abroad on shore leave. It was fun and when in his cups he sang some rude song about the life at the sea. After that he worked as a truck driver and his workplace organised travel inside the Soviet Union. Since it was very big and so is Russia he went to many interesting places. I collected postcards at the time so he always bought me a collection if he could. Once he took me along and we went to Latvia and visited several towns near Riga. Unfortunately we didn’t own a camera until we became independent and moved to Finland so there’s no pictures of our fun adventures.

[@yousuck785why]

I'm happy that you enjoyed your time with your grandpa.

[@N_0968]

@@yousuck785why Thank you! He was my first best friend and companion when I was little. He used to fondly remember how I “helped” him build our cottage (then a summer abode and then their home and my favourite place since I had my own room there), I followed him by holding on to his trouser leg as he walked in my pace, I was too little to hold his hand. I followed his wheelbarrow and got a ride back in it down the garden path to my great delight. I was even involved in covering our roof- a rope around my waist tied to the roof for security.

[@yousuck785why]

@@N_0968 That is really great. :) Sounds really fun. Having a great grandparent is always something to treasure.

[@juanjuri6127]

@@N_0968 oh, was the cottage a dacha? did y'all grow any veggies?

[@N_0968]

@@juanjuri6127 Yes, it was a dacha! Given to him by his workplace so he knew most of our neighbours already or made friends quickly. They also helped in doing some building. We had so many potatoes and every vegetable possible to grow in our garden or greenhouse. My grandma (RIP) also grew beautiful flowers. We had fruit trees and bushes too. It kept us in food when we didn’t have money for meat.

[@arnbo88]

I visited Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev back in 1979 and I could tell that I was visiting a 2nd world nation when I rode on an Ilyushin - Il62 jet airliner. They cut some corners on interior comfort. The only real disappointment was that St. Basil's cathedral was covered by scaffolding as seen @12:05. Our itinerary was controlled but we did have some free time on our own some evenings. In the Moscow subway I could trade $1 CAN = 3 rubles or $1 USD = 4 rubles. I also traded gum for militaria. I think that Intourist discouraged foreigners from exploring on their own was to prevent them from simply getting lost in a large city like Moscow and also to prevent any sort of robberies which would look bad for the Soviet government. I asked the tour guide about crime and she denied that there was any crime in the USSR. As a 15 year old I had no difficulty in obtaining Cosmos cigarettes and Chamagnski.

[@Cjnw]

* third world

[@xygog2408]

@@Cjnw Second world. It refers to the Communist bloc. Third world is totally different. Way poorer.

[@Dutch_Uncle]

About the Ilyushin: did condensation come out through the air vents? I rode one form Lagos to East Berlin, and it was disconcerting to see what looked like smoke shooting out. Now I know that it was just condensation, but sill it was a shock.

[@arnbo88]

@@Dutch_Uncle The condensation was probably due to an old A/C which required reconditioning. The seats on the Il-62 were backless and you could see the springs in the seat in front of you. The toilet looked more like an outhouse than something from a modern jet. It had toilet paper with wood slivers, an old, dirty porcelain sink cracked down the middle and a sign in Russian/English "water not suitable for drinking". The aircraft shook hard when the pilot let down the landing gear. I wonder how many accidents these types of aircraft were involved in. I was last in East Berlin in 1975. That was also interesting in that very little had been built since WW2. The S-Bahn still used the same wrought iron ticket dispenser from pre-WW1. The autobahn outside of East Berlin was the same one from the 1930's.

[@Dutch_Uncle]

@@arnbo88 Interflug had covered seats on my Lagos-Berlin round trip. I was startled to see crew members drinking beer in the cabin, but I learned that they were the crew that came off duty in Algiers, having flown from Mozambique to Lagos to Algiers. They did try to approach western standards, no problems the trip, Deboarding in Algiers, with carry on luggage, so that the aircraft could be refueled was an inconvenience. We were probably told to take our gear with us to the transit lounge to avoid problems with theft.

[@alexd9735]

I went in USSR in 1989 as part of student exchange cultural visit, I was 12 years old, still have the passport with diplomatic visa in it. Traveled 3hree days in a train called Pushkin. Perestroika was a thing and no one talked positively about it. We exchanged 100 German marks on black market and got about 800 rubles. Average professor salary was about 80 rubles if I remember correctly. We where given 10 rubles a day and my friend tier them in pieces and drop in the middle of a street cause he was mad they are giving us only 10 rubles , I remember old lady coming to pick them up and starts crying as we where going away. I went to arcades in VDHN and for one ruble got so many coins I could not hold them in both hands. We had a dinner at TV tower , restaurant called 7th sky, first time I tried caviar, it was awesome. Crime was starting to rise and we where advise to behave (which we did not) being teenage pricks. Felt very safe and liked Russians a lot. I remember going to sleep and thinking, if nuclear war starts now, I am fucked being in downtown Moscow. I remember metros being so clean that you could lick floor. When ever we went into restaurant and those where crowded all the times, they found place for us because we where foreigners. Went again in Russia in 20214 and could not believe how Moscow changed.

[@zsg87]

And what has changed the most?

[@alexd9735]

@@zsg87 system of values

[@alexd9735]

@Eias Sure. Every society that vent from collectivism to individualism will experience huge change in value system. I am not taking sides here, there are pros and cons in both. This is an personal example that might help illustrate. My father, in socialist system was director of company of about 500 people at its peak. In that system, you could not own the flat, but you could get the right to use one. There was a system with points, if you are married if you have kids, if you are important for society and so on. During his career, he signed approvals for workers to get the flats for about 400 persons while at the same time we lived in rented flat. Family, friends asked him, why don't you give your self a flat, you are ticking all the boxes? He would reply that he is a director, and the driver or cleaner is in greater need. So I grow up in rented flat. Now, I do not think that my father was super good / altruistic person ...he just behave with in system of values dominant in that time. If he lived in today world (capitalism all the way) he would not behave in same way.

[@alexd9735]

@Eias the real question is did I feel better in that system? Cant tell, I was a kid. What I do know is that inequalities in society are directly connected to crime rate. This is why there was a low crime rate in Vietnam or Cuba (all are equally poor) and in Scandinavia (all are equally in abundance) as opposed to any country where there is significant inequality. People instinctively feel that we all worth the same, we are equal and are feeling as injustice if someone is living in abundance while at the same time, the other member of his group (being a country, nation , race , tribe) is suffering.

[@alexd9735]

@Eias in 2014 Moscow, you could notice that change everywhere, from how people looked to how they treat you,,,,,metro was still pretty clean dough.

[@SmithFriscoFamily]

Toured Soviet Union in 1972. A real eye opener. Great experience, awful food.

[@TheColdWarTV]

Where did you visit?

[@SmithFriscoFamily]

@@TheColdWarTV from Leningrad, Moscow to Tbilisi Georgia, went along the Black Sea to Yalta. Also toured East Germany, Prague 💕 , Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest…. Wonderful experience. Our Soviet guide and I got hammered together Tbilisi. She and I walked off our hangover throughout the city.

[@TheCat48488]

@@SmithFriscoFamily she 🤔

[@terrorgaming459]

@@SmithFriscoFamily wow how old are you

[@namesurname624]

@@SmithFriscoFamily i may understand Leningrad or Moscow (tho I disagree), but Tbilisi and awful food can't be pronounced in the same sentence

[@kayzeaza]

Hilarious! I was just wondering this the other day! Thanks for the upload!

[@darkwoodmovies]

I just gotta say, I love your approach to how you make your videos. You don't glorify the USSR like many neoliberals naively do, but you also don't shy away from pointing out things that were actually done in good intention. Really nice balance IMO

[@Bobrogers99]

It was much more relaxed after the fall of the Soviet Union. I took a two-week Russian Waterways trio from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1993, and they were just in the process of gearing up for tourism. We stopped at villages that had never seen a foreign tourist, and we wandered around in cities quite freely. We had the advantage of adopting the husband of an official guide as our guide, and he took us to many places that were not accustomed to foreigners. The Russian people loved us, even throwing bunches of wildflowers on the deck of our boat when we were in a lock. It was a trip to a place that no longer exists.

[@PhilMarsden27]

I went on a school orchestra exchange with a Moscow school in 1992. While Still in transition looking back on it was close to everything you said, with the exception of pointing out the KGB headquarters and being taken to the first McDonald's in Moscow. We stayed with the family's of the students It was a fascinating experience, and we were all blown away by the hospitality of the families we stayed with despite a very large language barrier. Unforgettable experience

[@yorktown99]

Two little anecdotes for you. 1) My grandparents were farmers in Western Ukraine, part of the Polish Second Republic before 1939. After the War, they resettled in New York (sponsored by an uncle). In the late 1970s, a relative from the USSR was able to travel to visit. When she returned, she was asked by the KGB for a full and complete report of her trip. During her 'interview', she was presented with photographs of herself visiting various locations in New York. The implication was clear: not only had she been followed, but failure to divulge who she had been in contact with would be regarded as treason, and moreso: the reach of the KGB was strong enough to penetrate the 'free' societies of the West. 2) When I myself had opportunity to visit Ukraine in the 21st century, I saw a number of impressive monuments dating to the Soviet Era. I regarded them with a mixture of respect and ridicule (depending on their provenance). But when I visited the Holodomor Musemum/Memorial in Kyiv, it was too much: both myself and my brother were so overcome with emotion that we had to leave, only to go over to the River Dniper and cry.

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

Old soviets love to tell tall tales of their oppression during that era. What could farmers betray to the West?

[@AK-74K]

@@PORRRIDGE_GUN Stalin's program of industrialization involved forcefully taking the produced food from the farmers to feed the growing cities. Farmers were left to starve. If you complained, you would get sent to the Gulag. This happened all over USSR. Nothing to do with the West betrayal. The Gulags were also a part of Stalin's economic growth engine. They needed people.

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

@@AK-74K Agreed. But anecdotes make for bad history. They are unreliable.

[@lukebruce5234]

They fled Eastern Poland due to being Banderites?

[@Elyseon]

@@AK-74K And yet stupid tankies and communist fanboys still keep pretending the Holodomor didn't happen and that it's all western propaganda.

[@neub4321]

When I was in grade school in the 1960s, I did a school project about travelling to the USSR. It would be interesting to see the project now and how naive I was.

[@rodchallis8031]

I was always curious as a kid in the 60's. While I don't think I had too many illusions about the Soviet Union, I was sure I was being propagandized here in the West, too, and I wanted to know how much I was told about the Soviet Union was true, and what was lies. But of course, I don't think I would have gotten that from a structured and supervised visit. As a kid, though-- and I don't know where I got it from-- I always figured people were people the world over, and never bought into hating Rooskies because they were Rooskies.

[@terrymccombie6506]

I went to Moscow in 1990 and dealing with Intourist was quite a challenge sometimes. We were continually monitored, when we returned to our hotel after a day of going to Gorky Park, eating lunch at the Moscow Hotel and buying tickets from scalpers at the Bolshoi, they knew exactly what we had done, quite scary really, certainly made you wonder what the lives of the citizens were like under that scrutiny.

[@mpcaap]

Hey Guys i salute you all from Peru! I absolutely love your shows, i watched every single video on the great war channel and was hoping to do the same thing with this series. One small inconvenience i found isthat the Cold War playlist opposite to the Cold War playlist is arranged from newestto oldest so i cant let it play for hours and hours straight to watch it in order like i did with the other channel all the time. I still plan on watching all the videos, its just that is definetely harder to keep track and i have to play every single video manually instead of letting it run -.- Anyhow great work, keep up all the effort and all the great material, i consider your productions the most complete historical documentary series there is out there!

[@hughmungus1767]

@s alva - You should be able to make a playlist that puts the videos in any order you like if I am not mistaken.

[@georgequalls5043]

Was there in 1976. Treated very well. Was a guest of a quasi-government organization. But there were hardly any consumer stuff to buy unless you go to a dollar store in a hotel. Internal transportation had a lot to be desired but have never been better served than on an Aeroflot from Moscow to Frankfurt, Germany.

[@Tuppoo94]

A relative of mine travelled to the USSR because of work in the late 1980s. When he came back, all he could say was that "the Soviet Union is collapsing". He was a respected professional of his field, and still his experience led him to this conclusion. It must've been pretty terrible.

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

The war in Afghanistan, Chernobyl and cold war military spending was too much for Soviet society and economy to bear. I don't think the Western democracies would have done much better with problems like that, especially when you add in that much of the western end of the Soviet Union had still not fully recovered from WW2.

[@mikehunt8997]

@@PORRRIDGE_GUN The USA probably will never from the Biden administration with all the Soviet policies he's pushing.

[@starstencahl8985]

@@mikehunt8997 In comparison to all the other successful countries in the world you look almost an anarchistic nazi paradise. Don’t cry about communism when you don’t even public healthcare, which should be a minimum requirement for any developed country and has nothing to do with communism/socialism

[@phitjuice8041]

@@starstencahl8985 I'm not paying for lazy fucks to get free health care I also don't want my.taxs to increase nor do I want my insurance price to increase

[@ns7023]

@@phitjuice8041 yeah because paying for a profit business is not making a lazy fuck un them getting free healthcare.

[@Lanoumik]

I remember that the same week revolution in Czechoslovakia started, my mom was on a cruise vacation on Danube. Funny thing, it was on a Soviet ship. I don’t remember much, but she said they were not using real money on the ship, but some sort of coupons, valid only on the ship. Also it was a bit humiliating, because they had almost no Austrian shillings, so they were mostly windowshopping. And some Austrians were laughing at them :”immer kuken” - something like “everytime only looking”.

[@sk-sg1dd]

Stories like this is why I always watch your team's content, great stuff!

[@Homeeducateme]

That was very informative, thank you.

[@TheColdWarTV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@technoviking4152]

Awesome channel, exactly on point for my interests.

[@yvettemoore1228]

My grandparents went to the USSR in the 70s. No one could work out quite why but I was around 9 or 10 and ended up with a pen friend who was called ‘Svetlana’ from ‘Krasnodar’ who sent me lovely things like Father Frost cards and a Cyrillic alphabet poster and a collection of postcards from the folk tale Ruslan and Ludmilla. I have been fascinated by Soviet and Russian culture and language ever since and was quite shocked to discover that their guide and my pen friend was almost certainly KGB!

[@lukebruce5234]

My mom also had a pen pal. She even met her though. Why would the KGB waste their time becoming your pen pal is beyond me lol.

[@yvettemoore1228]

@@lukebruce5234 oh I get that but I did hear that most Intourist guides were KGB. Security services aren’t all Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 😉

[@terracotta6294]

Your videos are packed with so much info, I often watch them a second time! 🤗💛

[@johnthefinn]

As a resident of Finland since the 70s, I was a frequent visitor to Soviet Estonia. The mother of my girlfriend there was an Inturist guide, who had to make a note for the KGB of any political comments she overheard from her charges. Interesting times.

[@eksiarvamus]

*Soviet-occupied Estonia

[@jamesdedeckere6403]

Went there in 1979 for a few weeks. Moscow and Leningrad. Luggage lost for several days on the way in from Finland. Beautiful historic sites. ‘Modern’ buildings falling apart. Approached by people who wanted to buy my blue jeans. Saw long lines outside of food stores.Had to account for all purchases with receipts. When departing for Finland our plane was boarded by armed soldiers and searched. Also had great case of Czars rRevenge. ( my system just not used to the Russian water). Had a good time. Learned a lot. Grateful for what I had back home.l

[@CptInside]

Regarding the topic: Higly recomend the movie "moscow on the Hudson" with robin Williams in the lead role.

[@N_0968]

Yes, it is my favourite film by him. It’s brilliant and unfortunately not talked about often enough. As an Estonian it was a very familiar situation though nobody deflected in my family. I loved the scene where he does it.

[@CptInside]

@@N_0968 one of My favourite scene goes like that: random imigrant: I want to speak with your Boss ! Female Imigrant worker: My Boss is Ronald Reagon and He has no time for you! ^^

[@N_0968]

@@CptInside Brilliant! My favourite scenes are the ones in Russia where they’re in random lines and buy petrol etc. Also when Williams’ character complains that speaking English makes his mouth hurt and the point where he encounters the KGB man from his bus who apparently deflected after him. 😂

[@CptInside]

@@N_0968 did you know Robin learned to speak russian and play Saxophone just for that movie? What a awesome actor He was

[@N_0968]

@@CptInside I didn’t! That is awesome and shows his true dedication to his roles! He was so brilliant.

[@AnEnemy100]

Not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union I was introduced to a man going under the name of Alexander. (It was not considered wise to know his real name.) He had never previously visited the United Kingdom but spoke English with various regional accents. Those Soviet linguistic schools must have been quite something.

[@RMMilitaryHistory]

More great work David! Cant wait for that S.A.C ep! ;)

[@mland2012]

I'm too young to have ever visited the Soviet Union, but the description of the Inturist-led trips for foreigners were very similar to my experience visiting Cuba as an American on a "cultural education" program a few years back.

[@Shadowkiller-dq2ju]

Civilians: So when can we travel USSR Government: That’s the best part you don’t

[@arfanmedni7294]

It's not safe for you folks, they don't even have dental.

[@MyOrangeString]

That outro was awesome!!!! Well played.

[@Hollows1997]

I heard that the German army got a great deal in 1941 and ended up overstaying their welcome.

[@christopherr.2137]

yeah they hogged all the deck chairs and were asked to leave by the management lol

[@michellesheppard9253]

Funny that they thought by kicking the Russians into the sheds/barns wouldn't have any consequences.

[@JasonB2025]

But still at the end they got rent free housing in the Siberian gulags.

[@Maelli535]

@@JasonB2025 Nope, they had to work for it!

[@d39street66]

Though, some of the locals were very pissy about their rather sudden arrival.

[@davidminarech7548]

One old czechoslovak joke from that period: Two border soldiers having a chat (czechoslovakia had border with the USSR) *Jozef what would you do if czechoslovakia decided to quit its border controls with the USSR? -Well, I would step aside so the huge crowd of people trying to escape from the USSR to the Weat did not run me over *And Jozef what would you do if czechoslovakia decided to quit its border controls with the West? - I would climb up a tree * Why would you climb a tree? - To have a better look on that idiot who would want to escape from the West to the USSR

[@ComradeHellas]

Czech humour

[@geigertec5921]

I went to Moscow in 1988 as an American tourist. When I was outside the Kremlin I saw Gorbachev briefly getting into a limo. I later talked to a bored Soviet soldier who had recently returned from Afghanistan. He showed me a picture of his unit in the mountains. Later I went to see Lenin's tomb but didn't get in because I didn't want to wait on the long line. I stayed at a hotel that had once been an aristocrat's palace before the revolution. There was a big silver plated samovar tea service with a giant hammer and sickle on it. I stole (borrowed on permanent terms) one of the hotel's spoons. It was stamped CCCP on the underside but didn't have any other Soviet markings unfortunately. I talked to an old lady who remembered the days of the empire still. I also saw a big brown bear at a circus push a wheelbarrow.

[@Cosmic_Fury]

My late grandfather served in the US Army during peacetime, during the late 1950's, and was apparently stationed in Germany during those times. A way for unofficial trade of goods going on was at the border between East and West Germany, where soldiers on patrol could frequently encounter one another. The catch was that either you'd be taking potshots or having a nice chat, trading your American cigarettes for Soviet ones. According to him, it could be pretty unpredictable.

[@ultrahevybeat]

i remember a story from my parents who drove a international friendship club in Sweden. Once they had some Czechoslovakian associates visit Sweden and in the evening my parents wanted to take them out on a nice night out in Gothenburg. So they had a three course meal at a restaurant. later my dad payed for the whole evening. (it was a lot of money even for swedes, well they were students in their 20s) (it turns out they just borrowed money from my grandad). when the Czechoslovakians saw the bill they started to cry after working out how much money they had payed for the meal when compared to a meal in Czechoslovakia. well its hard to tell the story in text form but every time my dad brings it up he gets a tear in his eye, i can only imagine how it must have felt for those people behind the iron curtain that got a chance to se the west.

[@TheSunderingSea]

Crying because the bill would have been much higher or lower?

[@bodyloverz30]

@@TheSunderingSea Sweden has always been expensive, like Japan!

[@srfurley]

I visited Leningrad and Moscow in March of 1974. We planned the trip at short notice, but were able to obtain the visas very quickly. People said that getting into and out of the country would be difficult but we walked through customs and immigration with no more than a very brief glance at passports. The main restriction I remember was that we weren’t allowed to take in food items, which seemed strange at the time, but seems to apply more generally now, particularly since we (the UK) left the EU. The Intourist guides had what was clearly a well rehearsed narration;, and quickly changed the subject from questions they didn’t like. I remember that a bookshop was very keen to promote their fine range of posters against the Junta in Chile. We weren’t allowed to leave the cities, other than a guided visit to an old monastery at Zagorsk, and the rail journey between the two cities. We were able to travel around both cities on our own using all of the usual forms of public transport, and to visit shops etc. This was a packaged holiday, but the ‘we’ I refer to was my mother and I going out on our own. Shopping was a slow business, in most cases buying something involved queuing three times, firstly at the counter where you asked for what you wanted and they gave you a bill which you then took to the caskier’s desk where you paid for it and they gave you a receipt which you then took back to the counter to collect your goods. By this time the only shop in London where I remember this system still being in use was Foyles bookshop, though a somewhat modified version was still in use at the B+H photographic store in New York when I was there in about 2003. There was plenty of food to be had; some things would not be available, but alternatives would be; not unlike London today with the various Covid and Brexit related shortages. I do remember my mother looking at some dresses in a shop. They were perfectly good dresses, seemed to be of reasonable quality, and cheap, a Russian woman needing a new dress would have no difficulty duetting one, but what I liked was that there was absolutely no sense of fashion; the dresses which were on sale there that day were almost certainly just the same as her mother could have bought in the ‘50s, or her grandmother in the ‘30s, or her great grandmother around the time of the revolution. I suspect that the country is very different now; glad I saw it when I did.

[@Wilipeidia]

My mum and late grandmother visited the USSR during mums studies of "Great Dictators of the 20th Century" (Or "Great LEADERS of the 20th Century" as they sold it to the Russians...) My Grandfather is Scottish and so has the fairly common surname Alexander. Which happens to be fairly common in Eastern Europe. So, as they get off the plane they see all the other Western tourists being checked over carefully, and brace themselves for a long wait. Get to the border guard, who they greet in OK Russian. He takes passports from them and looks. "Ah! Alexander! Welcome home!" And waved them through.

[@Josway37]

My sister visited Moscow on a school field trip in the 80s. This video reminded me to ask her for more details about her experience. All I can really remember was that she brought jeans along to trade for historical items and CCCP memorabilia.

[@TXnine7nine]

My uncle worked for John Deere tractors in Iowa from the 60s until the 90s. Back in the late 70s he helped host a group of Soviet officials who were doing a tour of the American Midwest learning about various agricultural practices. They brought crates of vodka and Soviet cigarettes among other things that they then traded with people like my uncle for jeans, American cigarettes, perfume and bourbon whiskey to take back home to trade and sell. My uncle said that since that day he developed an affinity for Russian vodka 😂

[@inconnu4961]

But not Russian cigarettes?

[@eddiedemartini9961]

My dad went to the USSR as a student ambassador for the US in 1991 right before the collapse. He said that all of the stores were only half full and that they only had blocks of ice cream. He also said that everyone looked miserable and they tried to buy their clothes and money.

[@Keefan1978]

One other short remark: actually, one could also argue, the reasons for USSRs reluctance to let it's own citizens out could be traced even to the times of Russian Empire. Back then also people needed an exit permit and not anyone got it. Especially known critics of the Tsarist regime rarely would have been allowed out.

[@VisibilityFoggy]

I suppose in hindsight, it may have been better to let the Tsar's critics leave, lol.

[@Keefan1978]

@@VisibilityFoggy Well, they wanted them to leave - but to colonize the endless territories on the other side of the Ural mountains. Only people encouraged to leave where the Catholics - that's the reason there are so big Polish and Lithuanian communities in the USA. The Catholics wheren't also given land in Siberia as where Orthodox and Protestant peoples of the Empire. It's a complicated and very interesting history...

[@РусланЗаурбеков-з6е]

But for Lenin, "tsarist regime" was no obstacle for spending most of his pre-revolution life in Schweizerland.

[@gistart]

My grandma, then librarian in a small village under Bryansk, had a 3 week (i believe) tour across India in early 60s. Didn't talk about it often, don't think it was something important or lifechanging to her, I think she preferred Black Sea resorts better.

[@ILoveQazaqstan]

Lol

[@kondorviktor]

Traveling was Slow. One single customs check outwards the SU took eight hours. Somebody on the bus said something the nacsalnyik did not like, so the busful of people had to stand at the customs banks.

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

During the space race, a NASA spokesman once joked that the '[Russians] could get to the moon in 30 hours. And if they do it will take us 7 days to clear customs!'

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

Great vlog as always!

[@michaelporzio7384]

"I have seen the future and it works," Lincoln Steffens (American Tourist in the Soviet Union). Guess he got it wrong.

[@TheSunderingSea]

A lot of American tourists pre-WW2 in the USSR were Socialists/Communists all too eager to overlook the flaws of the worker state.

[@paulohagan3309]

He probably got the Potemkin Village treatment.

[@Cjnw]

Wrong! The western nations are becoming oligarchic and fascistic, so it turns out to be the what's future, anyway!

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

@@TheSunderingSea If the workers hadn't had the power taken away from them by Stalin and his cronies it might have worked well enough.

[@sabflash]

Very interesting episode thanks for your work