Escaping from Cold War Romania (231)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2022

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Zsolt Akos Pall was 17 when he decided to flee Cold War Romania for a better life in the West. It’s a heart-warming story of the generosity of strangers. Young Zsolt finds compassionate border guards, gets lost in Vienna and has incredible luck wherever he turns as he negotiates the iron curtain as well as many other international borders to reach his brother in Sweden However, his escape is bittersweet as we hear of his emotional farewell to his parents, not knowing if he’d ever see them again. Cold War history is disappearing; however a simple monthly donation will keep this podcast on the air. You’ll get a sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. There’s further information here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode231/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. 0:00 Introduction and Zolt Acos Powell's decision to flee Cold War Romania 7:52 Zolt's parents' reaction and his journey to the Hungarian border 16:00 Zolt's escape and experiences at the Hungarian border station 24:01 Zolt's journey to Vienna and his first day there 36:10 Zolt's journey from Vienna to Germany and his encounters along the way 48:06 Zolt's attempt to cross the border, arrival in Germany and journey to Stuttgart 53:02 Zolt's first impression of Hamburg 1:04:01 Zolt's arrival in Sweden and reuniting with his brother 1:07:38 The repercussions faced by Zolt's parents and their arrival in Sweden 1:10:44 Conclusion, mention of financial supporters and the Cold War Conversations store Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.7	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:10.5	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business
0:14.6	with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there.
0:20.4	Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:23.2	From startups to scaleups, online, in person, and on the go.
0:27.7	Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you.
0:30.2	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:35.5	But he would look at us one by one.
0:39.0	He looked in everybody's eyes.
0:41.2	He looked up the guy's eyes, but it was like, one, two, like a good four or five seconds,
0:48.4	looked in the girl's eyes and looked into mine eyes as well.
0:53.7	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:59.3	If you knew here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War
1:04.1	history accounts.
1:05.3	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so that you don't miss out on future episodes.
1:13.0	Zolt Eos Pahl was 17 when he decided to flee Cold War Romania
1:18.4	for a better life in the West.
1:21.8	It's a heartwarming story of the generosity of strangers.
1:27.3	Young Zolt finds compassionate border guards, gets lost in Vienna
1:31.4	and has incredible luck wherever he turns as he negotiates the iron curtain as well as many other
1:38.4	international borders to reach his brother in Sweden. However, his escape is bitter sweet as we hear of his emotional farewell to
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ian Sanders, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ian Sanders and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.