Iron Curtain: Life Under Soviet Occupation

1944–45: As the Red Army advances on Berlin, Stalin seizes Eastern Europe, imposing communism, requisitioning industries, spreading propaganda, and crushing all dissent.

By 1949, Stalin’s 70th birthday marks full Soviet control: cities renamed, families uprooted, Church persecuted, youth indoctrinated, and Jews face deadly purges.

Stalin dies in 1953, sparking revolts in Berlin and Hungary. Soviet tanks crush uprisings; repression tightens. In 1961, the Berlin Wall seals Eastern Europe under Moscow’s rule.