How a teen's letter to a stranger in the Soviet Union led to a long-distance friendship that has lasted decades.

Like many teens growing up in the People’s Republic of Poland, Ewa decided to send a letter to a stranger in the Soviet Union. Lena from Moscow wrote back to her, and they quickly found they had a lot in common, including a love of both dogs and Vysotsky records.

They continued writing as they entered new phases in their lives. They began careers, started families, and of course there were the revolutions that changed everything around them from communist to capitalist. And they're still writing today... forty years later.

How did Ewa find her penpal? Did the 1989 revolutions affect their friendship? And why have they never met? Find out in this episode of The Final Curtain.

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Click here to listen to the Polish version of this episode!

Time stamps

[01:35] How Ewa found Lena
[03:48] Instant friends
[06:38] Exchanging gifts by post
[08:49] The fall of communism
[11:58] Still writing, but will they ever meet?

Further reading / watching

• Poland's Walk to Freedom in 13 Iconic Photos // on Culture.pl

• Solidarność: Poland, Word by Word // on Culture.pl

• Posters of Solidarity from 1980 to 1989 // on Culture.pl

• A Pen Pal's Tales of Life in the Former Soviet Union // on FEE.org

• Postcrossing.com // a community that exchanges postcards with random people around the world

Credits

Written & produced by Monika Proba
Edited by Adam Zulawski & Wojciech Oleksiak
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski