Paul Anka recounts the ‘dark and bleak’ life under communism as he argued for USA’s freedom

Singer Paul Anka recounted the failures of Soviet Union-era communism, contrasting them with the freedom and abundance of America. The iconic entertainer appeared on Bill Maher's "Club Random" on Monday and described performing in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War: "We check in a hotel, one bathroom for the whole floor, no room service, and dark and bleak."

Maher slammed communism, saying, "It makes me so frustrated when I see so much sympathy for communism among kids today because they just are not taught history." 

"And just because we lived through it doesn’t really reach them because they’re entitled and they think they know everything."

Maher said Anka’s memories of shortages and life under Soviet-aligned governments underscored his broader critique of the system.

Anka said shortages in communist Poland and Czechoslovakia were so severe that he and his band gave away 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 he saw the conditions firsthand while touring Poland and Czechoslovakia, where he said basic goods were difficult to find.

"Bill, I’d come home in both countries, you’d see lines around the block in these little stores for toothpaste, for food, for a T-shirt," Anka said. "Everyone in my band and myself, we left everything we brought. I left my clothes, everything. My suitcases were empty in both countries. I just gave them away."

"We did try this. It is an evil, evil system that just doesn’t work," Maher said. "I don’t know what debate you were having around the bratwurst barrel there at 12:30 at night when you were 22 years old arguing for America, but, you know, my argument would be you’re standing in line for a potato."

Bill Maher criticized communism during a "Club Random" conversation with Paul Anka, saying younger generations are not taught enough about its history. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

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Anka said his trip to Poland began after he met the country’s president on a flight and later received a call from the State Department asking whether he would perform there.

"It wasn’t like going to Vegas," Anka said. "It’s Poland we’re talking about."

Anka said his first impressions of the country were bleak, describing the hotel and lack of food options.

Paul Anka recalled performing in Poland during the Cold War and learning of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination while behind the Iron Curtain. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for the Songwriters of North America (SONA) Warrior Awards)

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"First of all, we check in a hotel, one bathroom for the whole floor, no room service, and dark and bleak," Anka said. "The only thing I had was vodka."

Anka said he later heard news of President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination while sitting near a radio carrying Radio Free Europe in Poland.

"I think Kennedy has just been killed," Anka said. "Sure enough, I started crying."

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Anka said he went on stage shortly afterward and told the crowd he was leaving Poland because of Kennedy’s death.

"I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going home. My president’s just been killed, but I will come back one day. I just have to go home,’" Anka said.

Anka said he later had a similar experience in Czechoslovakia, where he debated the United States and communism with a woman assigned to him by authorities.

"She said to me, ‘You know, they’re not all communists. There’s only a million of us,’" Anka said.

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The woman later wrote him after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and asked him for help to get her daughter through school.

"She said, ‘Dear Mr. Anka, you were so right,’" Anka said. "I sent her the money. I put the kid through school."