What they hide from people in germany

There wasn't, indeed, foreign products, such as bananas, Coke or whiskey - but commodities were not lacking, says Sabine Bauer, a German former GDR to live in the western part of Berlin since 1990. No one went hungry, the bread was almost free, potatoes and public transport as well. I paid the rent 90 landmarks - and won 1600 landmarks and i do not complain: I had a secure job.

In the GDR we felt accompanied and protected by the state - and this from the cradle to the grave. The state was omnipresent, everything was organized - leisure, distractions, sporting activities, everything! There were no teenagers in the streets to pass their time. There was a feeling of total control and security. The crime was something that did not knew what his .

After the fall of the wall is that the difficulties began. My factory, which had more than 2000 workers in 1989, has had only 30 at the beginning of 1991. It was a collapse in a few months. We made computer chips - they told us we were at the forefront of technology, there was nothing more modern in the world. And, in fact, sold it all - but for the East European countries, especially to the USSR. From one day to another, it's over.

Do not left me no choice but to come to the West. And trust me, for me it was as if he had gone to the moon
In the GDR there was comradorship and solidarity among all. There was always a neighbor willing to lend a hand to help. Here there is everyone for itself .

Sorry if had some errors but i had to translate this from portuguese to english .

Let me say this comrade, I'm Half Polish (through my dad)... Poland was known as the ''Happy Bus'' behind the so called Iron curtain. All you hear today of evil communist (After 1956 socialists) who were starving their people and depriving them from their freedoms, that's just frankly bullshit.

For example factories had (and I mean had their own leisure clubs and hotels) where during each weekend the workers would gather to relax after long week of work, the children and teenagers were sent (But you weren't forced to) to what we know as ''Kolonia'' or colony. Overall the life was great in Socialist Poland, the only down side of that state was that vast majority of goods were sent off to Soviet Union, ohhh and that our eagle was missing the crown.

Fun facts:

In the 70's average Polish citizen was twice as rich than average American citizen.
Poland during those years was very nationalistic, you had to be genetically related or to have a pole in your family to be allowed to move to Poland (That's why Poland today is 98% ethnic Polish)

Same thing like what Vasco quotes was in Socialist era Czechoslovakia, although the 1968 USSR invasion (there was no actual fighting, just the replacement of politicians by neostalinists) turned many people to dislike the goverment. I am too surprised when Westerners believe people in the "Iron Curtain" starved or were abused. We had almost no freedom of speech and we couldn't visit Western countries, but I believe this was the inevitable consequence of a worldwide cold war.