Poland
I made several visits to Poland during the soviet days. There was a well established routine. First job on arriving in Warsaw was a visit to the British Embassy to check in, tell them why we were in the country and to set up lines of communication in case of any problems. As soon as you arrived in the embassy they handed you a card reading . . "Do not say anything confidential yet! . . ." Then they would turn on the sound machine which blasted out music and a football crowd noise rendering it impossible to hear anything unless you were face-to-face and 1 foot apart. Then they explained that they had so far found 2 hidden microphones and thought there were more, plus they had a directional microphone trained on the Ambassador`s office from the flats opposite. That pretty much set the tone. We would often go out into a local public park to talk things over rather than inside the Embassy. You always had a `protocol officer` (aka state police) escorting you when you travelled anywhere to `assist` you!
World War 2 had created massive damage there because of the Warsaw uprising and the German decision to punish the city involving destroying the city by aerial bombardment which destroyed 85% of the historic centre. The Russians sat on the opposite side of the river and failed to intervene to help the Poles, just waiting to take over during the postwar vacuum. That`s why they were just as much hated as the Germans and everyone told you so even though there was a Russian puppet communist government officially in charge. Particularly poignant was my visit to the Warsaw Ghetto where the Germans wad effectively walled in the Jewish quarter of the city, allowing few in or out and basically starving the Jews to death there. I was moved to tears there when I heard some of their stories. If you ever visit Warsaw you need to go there to understand.
During the postwar period a decision was made to rebuild many based on classic historic paintings and they were so successful that it is well worth the visit as a tourist. The last thing to be completed was the Royal Castle, which was finally opened to the public in 1984. When I was there this was being funded by public donation (rather then the communist government, who did not approve) and we were encouraged to put loose change into the collecting tubs. There was a large black economy with most people having one or two second jobs beyond their `official` one. Even to the extent that the whores who frequented most state run hotels were free agents (unlike those in Czecho-Slovakia where they were governement employees tasked with obtaining blackmail evidence). These used to pay off the `supervisors` who sat near the lifts on each floor to ensure undesirables did not access the hotel guests! We were able to buy high quality black market caviar under the counter from the waiters in the restaurant (normally destined for high up party officials). One evening we decided to go to the cinema to see Easy Rider but when we got there half an hour before the start we discovered all the tickets had gone. Then outside we met the ticket touts who had cornerd the market and were able to buy 12 zloty tickets from them for 20 zloty !
The factory where I eventually went to commission our manufacturing plant was at Nowa Sarzyna close to the Ukraine border some 4 hours drive from Warsaw. So it was not possible to commute and I stayed in the factory workers hostel. Food was basic but the really exciting thing was that it was located in forestry and there were several Bee-Eater nests to be seen - a bird that I have never experienced before or since. As is my routine, I took US$5 off the plant manager by betting that the plant would leak when water-tested. I won that bet all round the world. When we did finally successfully complete the commissioning there just remained the final ceremony - drinking the honoured foreign guest under the table with local vodka. Between the Factory Manager, Plant Manager, my local rep and myself we left for bed with three empty 1/2 litre bottles as evidence. I lay on my bunk but couldn`t physically feel it! Next morning woke to a completely clear head (no aldehydes in quality vodka). The return journey was punctuated by many memories. Pastel blue log houses,white cranes nesting, ubiquitous horse and carts, wild blue lupins, red squirrels, etc.
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