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Communists! Assassination! Romance!
Carol Cohn is an exceptional man with an incredible story.
Born in Romania during World War Two, he survived the deportation of the country’s Jews, returned and grew up under the Communists, escaped to the West, and became a journalist married to the girl of his dreams.
In this very special episode, he shares his experiences of mid-century European Jewish life, Communist indoctrination, Cold War politics, Western liberalism, Israel’s kibbutz collectivism, a Soviet hit squad, and, most touchingly, true love.
For those of us who have grown up in countries that never knew the repression and stultification of true totalitarianism, it is easy to be seduced by or indifferent to an idealised, sanitised version of a system we never experienced or suffered under. Our own social and political failings and shortcomings are notable, and worth commenting on and correcting, but they do not excuse or make more attractive the horrors visited on the millions of people who lived with the tyranny of Communism as it was, and in some places, still is. To wish it had been otherwise or to assume it could be different if tried again is to ignore the one thing we can know for certain: What actually happened to the people who had to live with it.
It was humbling and inspiring to hear Carol’s story, and to receive such an impression of his inner strength, good humour, and faith. I hope you feel the same.
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Episode 113: Carol Cohn on Life Under Communism and Escaping to the West