Life is Elsewhere
If you are the owner of one of the artworks featured here, and you want it removed, contact me.
Also, if you have any questions, comments, or requests, don't hesitate to contact me.
1989, Václavské náměsti, Prague, Czechoslovakia, Velvet revolution
Václavské náměsti, Prague, 1943. Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren
In December 1956, just a month after the Soviet Union had crushed a Hungarian revolt in Budapest, the two nations’ teams met in a brutal match at the Melbourne Games that came to be known as the “Blood on the Water” game. Officials ended it before time expired when a Soviet player punched Zador.
The Hungarians were leading, 4-0, with a minute left in the game when Zador heard a whistle. He looked at the other end of the pool, toward the referee, making the mistake of taking his eye off the man guarding him. In that instant, the Russian player rose out of the water and punched Zador in the eye. Irate Hungarian fans spilled out of the stands and crowded around the pool deck, haranguing and threatening the Russian players. The referee called the game to prevent a brawl. As police escorted the Russians to their locker room, Zador was sent to the first aid center, where he received eight stitches. His eye was so swollen he had to watch from the pool deck as Hungary defeated Yugoslavia, 2-1, in the championship game.
THERE WERE NO GAYS IN THE USSR:
In 1953 the East German government defended the traditional family and homosexuality was regarded as contrary to “healthy habits of workers.”
This agenda was pursued using the existing Article 175 of the penal code, which had been applied under the Nazis. While there had been no law against sodomy in the USSR, such a law was introduced in 1933, added to the penal code as Article 121, which condemned homosexual relations with penalties of imprisonment up to five years. With the fall of the Soviet regime and the repeal of the law against sex between consenting adult men, prisoners convicted under that part of the law were released very slowly.
(above: Yaroslavl, 1950’s)
Why?
It’s August 21 in Prague, so the anniversary of the Soviet invasion. The photo comes from the cover of Svět (The World) and shows the scene in front of Czech Radio during the initial attack (at 10:35 am). In spite of the danger they were still broadcasting inside. The headlines are in Czech and Russian and simply ask “why?”
(via easteuropeftw)
Nicholas II in the gowns of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich at the 1903 Winter Palace Ball.
(Bron: relishinrussia, via easterneuropa-deactivated201303)
Stalin’s monument in Prague - blowing up, 1962 (from here)
(via czechoslovakianlove)
Stalin’s Monument Downfall in Prague, 1962
Monument of Josef Stalin in Prague 1955-62
Viktor Deni & Nikolai Dolgorukov - The Metro is Complete!, 1935
Reinhard Heydrich’s car (a Mercedes 320 Convertible B) after the 1942 assassination attempt in Prague. Heydrich later died of his injuries.
(via collectivehistory)
A local resident removes a street sign after the withdrawal of of German forces from Czechoslovakia, 1945
(via 420oncz)
November 17, 1989: The Velvet Revolution begins.
In reaction to the stagnant political and social landscape of the country, discontent simmered in Czechoslovakia and finally erupted on November 17, 1989, when riot police put down an anti-Communist student rebellion in Prague. What resulted over the next few days was an outbreak of strikes, demonstrations, and public discussions across the country. This kind of civil resistance was common to the upheaval that various other Eastern Bloc states during 1989 (first Poland, then Hungary and East Germany, and then Czechoslovakia).
In late November, some 750,000 people gathered for protest in Prague. On November 27, a general strike supported by an estimated three-quarters of the population was successfully carried out; on the same day, the censorship of anti-Communist material ended. The Civic Forum, led by Václav Havel, met with Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Adamec, and it was decided that three particular articles from the country’s constitution would be removed entirely.
By December of 1989, Alexander Dubček, who had been ousted during the Prague Spring after attempting to institute reforms to the system, was elected Chairman of the Federal Assembly/Parliament. Havel was also elected to office - he became President of Czechoslovakia by the Federal Assembly’s vote. On December 31, the entire Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was officially dissolved.
(via fyeaheasterneurope)
