Singer Paul Anka recounted the failures of Soviet Union-era communism, contrasting them with the freedom and abundance of America. The iconic entertainer appeared on Bill Maher’s « Club Random » on Monday and described performing in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War: « We check in a hotel, one bathroom for the whole floor, no room service, and dark and bleak. »
Maher slammed communism, saying, « It makes me so frustrated when I see so much sympathy for communism among kids today because they just are not taught history. »
« And just because we lived through it doesn’t really reach them because they’re entitled and they think they know everything. »
Maher said Anka’s memories of shortages and life under Soviet-aligned governments underscored his broader critique of the system.
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Anka said he saw the conditions firsthand while touring Poland and Czechoslovakia, where he said basic goods were difficult to find.
« Bill, I’d come home in both countries, you’d see lines around the block in these little stores for toothpaste, for food, for a T-shirt, » Anka said. « Everyone in my band and myself, we left everything we brought. I left my clothes, everything. My suitcases were empty in both countries. I just gave them away. »
« We did try this. It is an evil, evil system that just doesn’t work, » Maher said. « I don’t know what debate you were having around the bratwurst barrel there at 12:30 at night when you were 22 years old arguing for America, but, you know, my argument would be you’re standing in line for a potato. »
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Anka said his trip to Poland began after he met the country’s president on a flight and later received a call from the State Department asking whether he would perform there.
« It wasn’t like going to Vegas, » Anka said. « It’s Poland we’re talking about. »
Anka said his first impressions of the country were bleak, describing the hotel and lack of food options.
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« First of all, we check in a hotel, one bathroom for the whole floor, no room service, and dark and bleak, » Anka said. « The only thing I had was vodka. »
Anka said he later heard news of President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination while sitting near a radio carrying Radio Free Europe in Poland.
« I think Kennedy has just been killed, » Anka said. « Sure enough, I started crying. »
Anka said he went on stage shortly afterward and told the crowd he was leaving Poland because of Kennedy’s death.
« I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going home. My president’s just been killed, but I will come back one day. I just have to go home,’ » Anka said.
Anka said he later had a similar experience in Czechoslovakia, where he debated the United States and communism with a woman assigned to him by authorities.
« She said to me, ‘You know, they’re not all communists. There’s only a million of us,’ » Anka said.
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The woman later wrote him after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and asked him for help to get her daughter through school.
« She said, ‘Dear Mr. Anka, you were so right,’ » Anka said. « I sent her the money. I put the kid through school. »
Source link : https://www.foxnews.com/media/paul-anka-recounts-dark-bleak-life-under-communism-he-argued-usas-freedom
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Publish date : 2026-05-30 19:39:00
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