Forgetting about the past

Central and Eastern European countries have an almost total distrust of Russia and a deep resentment to the 50 years of Soviet rule. Universally the communist period is viewed as half a century of cultural, social and economic stagnation. Young people resolutely refuse to learn Russian and very little from the period is valued. Every where, including in Bratislava, the monuments and symbols of communist rule have either been pulled down or left to crumble. Everyone seems to want to forget that Soviet rule even happened. The Germans appear to have been forgiven, but not the Russians.