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Singer Paul Anka recounts the failure of Soviet-era communism, contrasting it with the freedom and abundance of America. The legendary singer appeared on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” on Monday and described playing in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War: “We’re checking into a hotel, one bathroom for the whole floor, no room service, and it’s dark and dark.”
Maher criticized communism, saying, “It makes me very frustrated when I see so much communism sensitivity among children today because they are not taught history.”
“And because we live by it, it doesn’t reach them because they have the right and think they know everything.”
Maher said Anka’s memories of deprivation and life under pro-Soviet governments underscored her criticism of the system.
Anka said the shortages in communist Poland and Czechoslovakia were so bad that she and her group gave up their clothes and left with empty suitcases. (Photo by William Lovelace/Daily Express/Getty Images) (William Lovelace/Daily Express/Getty Images)
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Anka said she saw the conditions firsthand when she visited Poland and Czechoslovakia, where she said it was difficult to find basic goods.
“Bill, I’d come home to both countries, you’d see lines around the block at these little toothpaste, food, and t-shirt stores,” Anka said. “Everyone in my group and I, we left everything we brought. I left my clothes, everything. My suitcases were empty in both countries. I just gave them away.”
“We tried this. It’s a bad, bad plan that just doesn’t work,” said Maher. “I don’t know what debate you had about a barrel of bratwurst there at 12:30 at night when you’re 22 years old fighting for America, but, you know, my argument would be that you’re standing up for a potato.”
Bill Maher criticized communism during an interview on “Club Random” with Paul Anka, saying that younger generations are not being taught enough about its history. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
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Anka said that her trip to Poland started after she met the country’s president on a plane and later she received a call from the Ministry of State asking her if she would sing there.
“It wasn’t like going to Vegas,” Anka said. “This is Poland we’re talking about.”
Anka said her first impression of the country was bleak, citing the hotel and lack of food options.
Paul Anka recalled playing in Poland during the Cold War and learning about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy while behind the Iron Curtain. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Songwriters of North America (SONA) Hero Awards)
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“First, we look at the hotel, one bathroom is full on the floor, there is no room service, and it is dark and dark,” said Anka. “All I had was vodka.”
Anka said that he later heard the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 while sitting next to the radio that was broadcasting Radio Free Europe in Poland.
“I think Kennedy was just killed,” Anka said. “I actually started crying.”
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Anka said that she had just entered the stage and told the crowd that she was leaving Poland because of Kennedy’s death.
“I said, ‘Ladies, I’m going home. My president was just killed, but I’ll come back one day. I have to go home,'” said Anka.
Anka said she later had a similar experience in Czechoslovakia, where she argued against the United States and communism with a woman who had been given to the authorities.
“He said to me, ‘You know, not all are communists. There are only a million of us,'” Anka said.
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The woman later wrote to him after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and asked him to help her daughter finish school.
“He said, ‘Dear Mr. Anka, you were absolutely right,'” Anka said. “I sent him money. I taught the child.”
