CBC Radio: The Sunday Edition

Documentary by Karin Wells and David Gutnick

Stone cold: statue of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin looks into a democratic future for Ukraine. (CBC/Karin Wells) Read Karin Wells's reporter's view of the story.

On Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was smashed. That marked the beginning of the end of a dream — for Communists. For many people who lived under Soviet domination, it signaled the end of a nightmare.

Almost overnight, capitalism bloomed. Whole economies were redesigned. Free speech flourished. Unemployment soared. So did interest in organized religion. Billionaires popped up. Social safety nets were shredded. Neighbours found out who had been spying on whom. Real elections were held. Here was democracy, or something like it.

Now, from the ashes of the old — still warm, still combustible &mdash, the young are building new worlds in Eastern Europe. Theirs is the first post-Soviet generation. They carry the weight of the past, its secrets and lies. And like the young everywhere, they dream about a different future.

CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition has produced three documentaries that bring us the sounds, experiences, ideas and dreams of a special generation in a series called Generation Next: Young Minds, Bodies and Souls after Communism, from Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary, produced by Karin Wells and David Gutnick.

They will air on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition on successive Sundays beginning Nov. 1 at 11:00 a.m. (11:30 NT)

LISTEN to Part 1 (53:14) | LISTEN to Part 2 (51:20) |LISTEN to Part 3 (51:06)