Things we believed during the Cold War that ended up being wrong

People hated living under Communism
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "life under Communism"? The answer probably involves stuff like "the secret police," and "gulags." Films like The Lives of Others have made clear that living in a Communist dictatorship was even less fun than it sounds — and it already sounds less fun than sharing a naked hot tub with your local biker gang — but the reality is more nuanced. In parts of Eastern Europe, life under socialism is still regarded with nostalgia.

There's a German name for the phenomenon: ostalgie. In 2014, Germany's international public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, reported that nostalgia for life in socialist Germany (the German Democratic Republic or GDR) had created a booming market for old East German products. While no one wanted a return to the days of dictatorship, many spoke about how they missed certain items or ways of doing things. A 2009 poll reported in Der Spiegel went even further, with 57 percent of former GDR residents showing willingness to defend the socialist state.