How a teen's letter to a stranger in the Soviet Union led to a long-distance friendship that has lasted decades. Part of our mini-series The Final Curtain.
#stories from the eastern west
Like many teens growing up in the People’s Republic of Poland, Ewa decided to send a letter to a stranger in the Soviet Union. Lena from Moscow wrote back to her, and they quickly found they had a lot in common, including a love of both dogs and Vysotsky records.
They continued writing as they entered new phases in their lives. They began careers, started families, and of course there were the revolutions that changed everything around them from communist to capitalist. And they're still writing today... forty years later.
How did Ewa find her penpal? Did the 1989 revolutions affect their friendship? And why have they never met? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain.
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Time stamps
[01:35] How Ewa found Lena
[03:48] Instant friends
[06:38] Exchanging gifts by post
[08:49] The fall of communism
[11:58] Still writing, but will they ever meet?
Further reading / watching
Credits
Written & produced by Monika Proba
Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
letters
moscow
post-communist transformation
