Copyright © 2012 by Anne Applebaum
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Group Ltd, London, in 2012.
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Cover design by Michael J. Windsor
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Applebaum, Anne
Iron curtain : the crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 / Anne Applebaum.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Europe, Eastern—Relations—Soviet Union. 2. Soviet Union—Relations—Europe, Eastern. 3. Europe, Eastern—Politics and government—1944–1989. 4. Europe, Eastern—Social conditions—20th century. 5. Communist countries—Politics and government. 6. Communist countries—Social conditions. 7. Communism—Europe, Eastern—History—20th century. 8. Communism—Social aspects—Europe, Eastern—History—20th century. 9. Political culture—Europe, Eastern—History—20th century. 10. Political persecution—Europe, Eastern—History—20th century. I. Title.
DJK45.S65A67 2012
947.0009’045—dc23
2012022086
eISBN: 978-0-385-53643-1
v3.1
This book is dedicated to those Eastern
Europeans who refused to live within a lie.
The loss of freedom, tyranny, abuse, hunger would all have been easier to bear if not for the compulsion to call them freedom, justice, the good of the people … Lies, by their very nature partial and ephemeral, are revealed as lies when confronted with language’s striving for truth. But here all the means of disclosure had been permanently confiscated by the police.
—Aleksander Wat,
My Century
Individuals need not believe all these mystifications, but they must behave as though they did, or they must at least tolerate them in silence, or get along well with those who work with them. For this reason, however, they must live within a lie.
—Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless”
Abbreviations and acronyms were widely used to describe many different kinds of political organizations in the era described in this book—the Soviet Union had a kind of mania for them—but they can be very confusing for the general reader, particularly as they changed quite often. I have therefore avoided them as much as possible, often using “communist party” in place of “Polish United Workers’ Party,” for example, or “communist youth group” instead of FDJ or ZMP. Still, it was impossible to avoid them altogether, and they are often used in other history books and memoirs. This is a list of the most important.
GERMAN
CDU
Christlich Demokratische Union: Christian Democratic Party
DDR
Deutsche Demokratische Republik: German Democratic Republic, also called GDR or East Germany
FDJ
Freie Deutsche Jugend: Free German Youth, the communist youth party, activated in 1946
FDP
Freie Demokratische Partei: Free Democratic Party, sometimes referred to as the Liberal Party
KPD
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands: German Communist Party, founded in 1919, dissolved in the Soviet zone of Germany in 1946
SED
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands: German Socialist Unity Party, the name of the German Communist Party after its unification with the Social Democratic Party in 1946
SMAD
Sowjetische Militäradministration in Deutschland: German name for the Soviet Administration in Germany, 1945–49
SPD
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands: German Social Democratic Party, refounded in 1945, dissolved in the Soviet zone of Germany in 1946
SVAG
Sovietskaia Voennaia Administratsia v Germanii: Russian name for the Soviet Administration in Germany, 1945–59
ÁVH
Államvédelmi Hatóság: State Protection Authority, the secret police from 1950 to 1956
ÁVO
Államvédelmi Osztály: State Security Agency, the secret police from 1945 to 1950
DISZ
Dolgozó Ifjúság Szövetsége: League of Working Youth, the communist youth movement, 1950–56
Kalot
Katolikus Agrárifjúsági Legényegyesületek Országos Testülete: National Secretariat of Catholic Agricultural Youth Clubs, Catholic youth organization, 1935–47
Madisz
Magyar Demokratikus Ifjúsági Szövetség: Hungarian Democratic Youth Alliance, the communist-backed “umbrella” youth movement, 1944–50
MDP
Magyar Dolgozók Pártja: Hungarian Workers’ Party, 1948–56, the Communist Party after unification with the Hungarian Social Democrats
Mefesz
Magyar Egyetemisták és Főiskolai Egyesületek Szövetsége: League of Hungarian University and College Associations, university youth group in existence from 1945 to 1950, revived briefly in 1956
MKP
Magyar Kommunista Párt: Hungarian Communist Party, 1918–48
MSzMP
Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt: Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, the Communist Party, 1956–89
Nékosz
Népi Kollégiumok Országos Szövetsége: National Association of People’s Colleges, 1946–49
SZDP
Szociáldemokrata Párt: Hungarian Social Democratic Party, founded in 1890, dissolved into the MPD in 1948 after unification with the communists
KPP
Komunistyczna Partia Polski: Polish Communist Party, founded in 1918, dissolved by Stalin in 1938
KRN
Krajowa Rada Narodowa: National Council
PKWN
Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego: Polish Committee of National Liberation
PPR
Polska Partia Robotnicza: Polish Workers’ Party, the name of the resurrected Polish Communist Party between 1942 and 1948
PPS
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna: the Polish Socialist Party, founded in 1892, forcibly dissolved into the Polish United Workers’ Party in 1948
PRL
Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa: People’s Republic of Poland, communist Poland
PSL
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe: Polish Peasants’ Party, founded in 1918, in opposition to the communists from 1944 to 1946, later part of the regime
PZPR
Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza: Polish United Workers’ Party, the name of the Polish Communist Party after 1948
SB
Służba Bezpieczeństwa: Polish Secret Police, 1956–90
UB
Urząd Bezpieczeństwa: Polish Secret Police, 1944–56
WiN
Wolność i Niezawisłość: Freedom and Independence, the anti-communist underground from 1945 to about 1950
ZMP
Związek Młodzieży Polskiej: Union of Polish Youth, the communist youth group from 1948 to 1957
ZWM
Związek Walki Młodych: Union of Fighting Youth, the communist youth group from 1943 to 1948
OUN
Orhanizatsiya Ukrayins’kykh Natsionalistiv: Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
StB
Státní bezpečnost: State Security, Czechoslovak secret police
UPA
Ukrayins’ka Povstans’ka Armiya: Ukrainian Insurgent Army
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