The Red Flat : Unveiling the Past

A Glimpse into a Bulgarian Family's Life Under Communism

I visited the Red Flat during my trip to Sofia, and it was a fantastic experience, to say the least. The Red Flat isn't your typical museum; it's more like an interactive time machine that takes you back to the 1980s, during the final years of the communist regime in Bulgaria. The flat gives you a real sense of how an average Bulgarian family lived their everyday lives during the Cold War. You get to see how work and free time, school and holidays, socializing, eating, drinking, and even doing chores happened back in the days of Reagan and Gorbachev.

It was quite an eye-opening experience for me – life back then seemed much better than I had imagined. Coming from Kerala, where communism has always had a strong presence and often felt like it hindered major progress, I was a bit unsure about what a completely communist society would have been like. To my surprise, it looked like the Bulgarian people in the 80s were doing pretty well for the most part.

Living room of the average Bulgarian family during the Communist regime

In fact, it seemed like they were economically much better off than India in the 80s. It was quite surprising to see that a typical household back then had things like a washing machine, fridge, TV, radio, record player, typewriter, and even a sparkling water machine.

One big difference I noticed compared to India was how much importance people placed on sports and athletics from a very young age. Kids were really encouraged to take part in these activities, which seems to have been a really important part of their culture back then.

There was definitely a nostalgic feel to it as well, with some notable similarities to India, like the movie broadcasts on Sunday afternoons, the yellow pages phone book, and the rotary phones where you'd sometimes get someone else's call by mistake.

Having said all that, there were definitely problems back then too. While everyone was supposed to be equal in this society, many people had a lot more wealth and power than others. Any dissenting voice was quickly silenced, and there was practically no freedom of speech, especially if it was against the government. The secret police had spies everywhere, reporting back on people who expressed any unhappiness with the government. So, things weren't always as fun and uncomplicated as you might think.

Speaking of the Red Flat, you have to appreciate the effort that went into creating this interactive museum. While it was originally one family's home, the team behind the museum talked to three different families from that time to really understand how life was back then and what their daily routines were like. In fact, the items in the museum came from all three families.

The two hours I spent in the Red Flat were a real eye-opener and a great learning experience, and I highly recommend anyone visiting Sofia to check it out.