Zsolt Akos Pall was born in a small town in the Hungarian speaking part of Romania.
For ordinary people, life in Romania in the 1980s was very hard and it could be even worse if you were a part of the Hungarian Szekler minority since the Communist government persecuted the Hungarian minority. They even made them change their Hungarian names into Romanian. Zsolt's brother was renamed Istvan to Stefan. However, Zsolt was baptised Zsolt, since there was no Romanian equivalent to it.
Zsolt describes the shortages, his schooling and many other stories of life in Romania during this period.
We end the episode with Zsolt’s plans to escape to Sweden. Don’t miss Part 2!
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I am delighted to welcome Zsolt Akos Pall to our Cold War conversation…
There’s further information here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode230/
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0:00 Introduction and early life in Romania
2:36 Life under communism and experience of the Hungarian minority in Romania
15:56 Impact of shortages on daily life and industry
18:47 School life, propaganda, and societal structure under the regime
27:02 Cold War hobbies: Young pioneer experience and photography
32:59 Brother's journey out of Romania and Western influences
38:35 Zsolt's escape attempt and first love
41:12 Life goals in Hungary, brother's journey to Sweden, and pivotal decision
44:27 Closing remarks, acknowledgments, and sponsor mentions
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