By Julie Ahadi and BJ Richards.
As I found myself reading through a brief history of Poland in the 20th Century the other day, one thing stood out amongst the wars, pacts, uprisings, strikes, etc., and that was The Rolling Stones performing in Warsaw in 1967. This fact was sandwiched between mass anti-Soviet riots and the election of Pope John Paul II, no less. I’m sure that at the time the concert was a life-affirming moment for any and all Polish ‘Stoners’, and playing a gig behind the Iron Curtain for the first time must’ve been pretty groovy (man). But on a historical level, it did seem like a rather odd, or at least out of place, fact to throw in.
What it did provide, however, was a refreshing reminder of two fundamental truths about Eastern Europe and its relationship to the rest of the continent. First, that East Europe’s recent past is not all non-stop doom and gloom as our schools’ modern history curriculum would have us believe—sometimes fun things happened, too, and it’s nice to be reminded of them. Second, that however estranged Eastern and Western Europe may be, there are some things they will always have in common, even if it’s only rock ‘n roll.
