My Parent's Experience During the Cold War

Even though my mom was only about five or six years old, she has a few memories about learning about the Cold War in school. She recalls that in school they were taught about the freedoms banished within the Soviet Union. Specifically, the bans on religion and rights. She recalls that they were also taught about the fear that the US had of the Soviets having an atomic bomb. She remembers that some buildings had signs that read "Fallout Shelters" a place that one was supposed to reside if an atomic bomb was dropped. She also remembers that people were most afraid of Cuba because it was right off the coast of Florida. This was because Cuba was communist and its weapons were supplied by the Soviet Union. She remembers having Civil Defense Drills in school twice a year in which they had to practice walking home from school. This was to prepare for a time that children couldn't contact their parents and streets weren't open because a bomb was dropped or an air raid occurred. My mom also remembers at the age of about 30, watching the Berlin Wall fall on tv. 

        My dad recalls his trip to the Soviet Union in 1979-1980 in an exchange program. He visited Moscow and Leningrad. He met other college students that said that they occasionally got to read Newsweek and Time which surprised my dad. He remembers seeing few cars on the street because of their poverty. And he remembers the gross food that they fed him because of their lack of money. He recalls that his friends traded his Levi jeans for a bunch of collectables because the Soviets were unable to buy jeans. When he returned from his trip, they were warned that the Soviets were going to check their luggage to make sure that they didn't take anything that they weren't allowed to. He and his friends got nervous that they were going to take some of things they had bought. While they were in the Soviet Union, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan and my father or no one else on the trip had learned of this until they had returned home. When my father was a kid during the Cold War, he remembers through his temple, sending Russian Jews religious items to celebrate their religion and money to help them get out of Russia and go to Israel.

Life in India during the Cold War

Both my parents grew up in India, a place that is not necessarily thought of when you think of the Cold War, and neither of my parents had personal experiences directly related to the Cold War. They said that this was because although India had actually allied with the USSR, the people of India were more focused on developing their country since they had just gained freedom in 1947. They were also more focused on the war with Pakistan than the war going on in the rest of the world. Consequently, the Cold War was not very relevant to their daily lives. But, my dad said that one of the most important effects the Cold War had on India and one of the things he remembers the most is India's development of nuclear weapons in 1974. This was a big deal for India since it made it the sixth nation to develop this technology and also increased its power in the world. But, it did also increase tensions with countries like the U.S., which surprisingly are not very prevalent today. While nuclear weapons are clearly not the best thing in the world, this development helped India to become the country it is today. Although it may still not be a global power, it does have way bigger role than it would have otherwise.

Safe House? Or Playhouse?

My parents were just kids during the Cold War, but they remember some things about the time. Both my parents lived in Washington, D.C., where everyone was afraid would be the target of an attack. Further, my dad lived near a naval base (his father was in the Navy). Not surprisingly, many of my parents' neighbors built bomb shelters in their homes. My mom remembers one of her neighbors' shelters. Thy built it in their basement, and it had a tiny door (like a playhouse, it was fit for a child) that cranked open like on a submarine. There were a few bunk beds and a manually operated generator that could power the lights. My mom and her neighbors' children were not old enough to fully understand the danger of the situation. In fact, what my mom remembers most is playing in the bomb shelter (as if it were a playhouse) with her friend (the neighbors' child), and that her friend's parents always got mad at them for it. It was a scary time--especially in Washington, D.C.--but my parents were both too young to fully grasp how important it was.

Grandpa's Trip to Berlin

My grandpa climbed up the steps of the Berlin Wall, something that others are shot at for attempting. Escorted by Russian soldiers, my grandpa crossed from West Berlin into East Berlin for a long two hours. Only days earlier, he was back at home in the United States. Even he was in fear of Russia and their threat of overpowering europe and potentially America as well. He was working for the Dupont Company. His boss was asked by President Kennedy to establish Radio Free Europe, a broadcast into Russia about good things happening in Western Europe. RFE was to interview refugees who came out of Russia. My grandpa traveled from Washington D.C. to Seattle to raise money for this broadcast and was also backed up by the CIA, who assured my grandpa that he would make it out of Berlin safely. So in the mid-1960's, he got on a plane and arrived in Germany, which he described as a very scary place. "West and East Berlin was like day and night." In West Berlin, where RFE headquarters were located, there were shops, cars, and people roaming the streets; it was a prosperous area. After he climbed the steps of the Berlin Wall, he saw nothing, literally. He describes East Berlin as being "vacant; no people, no cars, no shops, no life." In the Eastern part of the city, there was no freedom, food, or technology. The people were poor and helpless because Russia had bad ambitions. He returned from Berlin safely and continued working on the project, but for even at home, fear still existed. But nothing beats standing at the top of the Berlin Wall.