Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from June, 2009
Soviet History: Punk Under Totalitarian Rule
Macedonian blog Panta Rei pointed out to a gallery of Soviet Punks, reminding readers that the totalitarian regime sometimes sent its youth who dressed differently to “re-education” camps.
FSU: Soviet Toys
Photos of Soviet children's toys – at LJ user varjag_2007‘s blog (RUS).
Macedonia: Real Life Facebook Event
NGO Youth Educational Forum organized a “real life Facebook event” in Skopje as a creative reaction to the passivity and corruption of the official student organization at the largest state university in Macedonia. The Student Parliament of Sts. Cyril and Methodius University (SPUKM), formerly known as Student Union, was controlled...
Ukraine: “Lady Ethnographer”
Maria Sonevytsky of My Simferopol Home writes on being a “lady ethnographer” in Ukraine and on xenophobia in Crimea: “Ukraine today is caught between two warring accounts of history, as it is caught between two different attitudes towards otherness, be it gendered, ethnic or raced otherness.”
Ukraine: MP Viktor Lozynsky's Case
Ukrainiana writes about Viktor Lozynsky, a Ukrainian MP who has recently been involved in the brutal shooting of a 53-year-old unemployed man.
Ukraine: “Where Life Lives You”
An expat's musings on life in Ukraine – at Greetings from Kyiv.
Czech Republic: No Olympics in Prague
Due to the economic crisis, Prague has abandoned plans to host the 2016 Olympics, CzechFolks.com reports.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Moving Buildings”
In one Bosnian town, a mosque was destroyed during the war in 1992, and a church was later built on the spot where the mosque used to be; soon, however, the church will be moved “a couple of hundred meters away so that the mosque can be ‘rebuilt’ on its...
Russia: Kamchatka Volcanoes Online
Profy reports that soon it will be possible to follow Kamchatka volcanoes’ eruptions online.
Russia-Poland: History revisionism at large again
The Beatroot comments on a current dispute between Russia and Poland about a Russian state TV-documentary, claiming that Nazi Germany, Poland, and Japan were preparing to invade the Soviet Union during the early stages of World War II.
Belarus: Death penalty and Europe
LJ user Plaschinsky discusses [RUS] Belarus’ moratorium on capital punishment and its road to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly – as a first step towards reintegration with West European structures – and points out the difference between an ethical and a utilitarian position on the abolition of the death...
Russia-India: A medieval journey to India
Jost A Mon discusses his own and other translations of the 15th century memoirs of Russian merchant's Nikitin odyssey to India and elsewhere.
Ukraine: Iranian Students Protest in Kyiv
Greetings from Kyiv links to Kyiv Post's photos of a protest by Iranian students in Kyiv.
Russia: Views on Events in Iran
“As hundreds of thousands protesters fill the streets of Tehran and other provincial centers, one can’t help think that we’ve seen this all before,” writes Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog, comparing the events in Iran to “the ‘colored revolutions’ in Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, (the failed attempts in) Moldova and...
Russia: “Summer in Saratov”
OpenDemocracy.net posts Olga Bakutkina's text on the economic problems in Saratov.
Albania: Female Solo Singers
A post on “some of the most important Albanian female solo singer artists of the last century” – at The Balkan Crew.
Ukraine: Blogging Priest Scandal
Profy writes about a scandal involving a Ukraine-based Russian Orthodox priest – LJ user abbatus-mozdok – whose blogging manners were deemed inappropriate by the church officials.
Russia: Viktor Tsoi's Birthday in St. Pete
Eagle and the Bear writes about Viktor Tsoi, “the Soviet Kurt Cobain, who wrote some iconic tunes, changed the Russian music world with his group Kino, and then died young enough to become a martyr.”
Russia-Germany: Common 20th century history book
Paul Goble of WindowonEurasia claims that Russian and German historians are coming to an agreement to write a common history book, documenting the countries tumultuous and violent relations during the 20th century.
Russia: Birthday interview with Khodorkovsky
Dziennik Rosyjski [POL] encourages people to pose questions, by way of Gazeta.ru, to Russian jailed energy tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on his fifth birthday in incarceration.
Russia: Centennial of colour photography
Eternal Remont turns attention to Sergey M. Prokudin-Gorsky, who in 1909 was commissioned by the Tsar to document the Russian empire on film. In the process, he developed and refined his special technique of colour photography.
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