Vintage photos show what life looked like behind the Iron Curtain

From hidden discotheques to winning soccer teams, photos show what life was like in the Soviet Union before the Berlin Wall fell.

• Before the end of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain cut off the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe.
• Life there was restricted, but as its leaders changed, Western influence began to reach residents.
• Still, some older generations held on to the communist structure and devotion to the state.

The Iron Curtain was a figurative and ideological wall — and eventually a physical one — that separated the Soviet Union from western Europe after World War II.

The name, widely attributed to Winston Churchill, hinted that life in the USSR was secretive and very different from other western, capitalist countries.

But vintage photos provide a peek behind the curtain and show that, while members of the Soviet Union worked tirelessly to prove its power to the rest of the world, there was also time for music, shopping, and vacations in the sun.

The Iron Curtain was a figurative and political barrier that divided Europe.

It sealed off the Soviet Union from Western countries between the end of World War II and the end of the Cold War in 1991.

The Soviet Union was believed to be brutally restrictive, but after Joseph Stalin died in 1953, there were changes to everyday life.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

In 1961, the Berlin Wall was built, and a combination of curiosity and fascination with American culture began to build throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Source: History.com

Some of this fascination was fueled by the US State Department, which sent popular American music to Eastern Europe.

Music like jazz gave people a chance to experiment with a new version of entertainment they were otherwise unfamiliar with.

But Soviet leaders continued to ban rock 'n' roll music.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

"Style hunters" were basically the Soviet version of today's hipsters. They would listen to smuggled music and dance in hidden discotheques before the police busted them.

Fascination with punk style took the youth by storm, and punks would do anything to get their hands on even just a few seconds of rock 'n' roll.

Source: The Guardian 

 

In the 1950s, "bone records" were old X-rays printed on flimsy vinyl sheets that were used to share American rock music. The sound quality was awful, but it provided the taste of rebellion they were after.

Sports, and particularly soccer, were popular in the Soviet Union. When the soccer team won the European Championship in 1960, there were huge celebrations.

In the earlier years of the Soviet Union, Stalin's leadership had organized teams as a way for the state to maintain control.

While the government was no longer in complete control by the 1960s, they still used victories as a propaganda tool and claimed success whenever there was a big win.

Source: livemint, futbolgrad

 

But as younger citizens stirred up trouble, members of the older generation continued to represent Soviet culture and abide by the communist lifestyle.

Public transport was a crucial tool to keep the republics connected. The Moscow Metro system was known to be the best kept to flaunt socialist success.

Source: ForeignPolicy

But public buses were the predominant means of transportation.

On a normal day, adults would head off to work and occasionally browse a store.

Photographer David Hlynsky told Fast Company that "very few products were branded with anything like the legendary trademarks of the West."

Source: Fast Company

Rather," he said, "these were generic products devoid of any accompanying mythology."

Pictured, a sales assistant shows shirts to customers at the GUM department store, known as the State Department store, in Red Square, Moscow.

Nikita Khrushchev, a former Soviet statesman, visited the US in the 1960s and tried to bring the concept of the Western supermarket to the Soviet Union, but it didn't catch on.

Source: Geohistory

The production and distribution systems just couldn't keep up, and most Soviet citizens continued to shop at small mom-and-pop stores.

Winter in Eastern Europe is known for its extremely cold temperatures, making daily commutes and grocery runs even harder.

But come the summertime, the sunshine and trips to the beach united everyone.

Extreme weather didn't stop military parades.

Every November, thousands would gather in below-freezing weather to celebrate the Soviet Union's anniversary in front of the Red Square.

Missiles were displayed to show the Soviet Union's military power and capabilities.