Cestování v dobách socialismu
Travel in times of socialism

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the thesis is to give testimony about traveling abroad before 1989 according to my parents experiences. For our generation without totality experience is the impossibility of free traveling unimaginable. Today we choose a place, save up for a holiday and we should go – but it didn’t work like that in the past. People had a limited possibility of traveling abroad from February 1948 (with exemption in the year 1968 – it was a year of part liberalization) to 1989. Difference between possible destinations was evident especially between socialistic and capitalistic countries. If the destination was in a socialistic part of the world, traveling was relatively without problems. In the second case it was evidently more difficult – applicants needed lot of permissions from workplace, collection committee of KSČ, labor union, eventually also from avenue organizations. In a specific period of the year the applicants had to apply for foreign exchange commitment from a national bank which obtained only 4% of applicants. In case of success the process was not in the end because of exit permit need. I will be focused on travel to Switzerland in 1981 and to Austria in 1987.

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