Bill Maher rips communism as Paul Anka recalls Cold War tour stories

Singer Paul Anka described the failures of Soviet Union-era communism by comparing them with the freedom and abundance of America. The iconic entertainer appeared on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” on Monday and described his performance in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War: “We check into a hotel, there’s only one bathroom on the whole floor, there’s no room service, it’s dark and dreary.”

Maher crashed communism, “It makes me very angry to see so much sympathy for communism among children today because they are not taught history.”

“And just because we’ve been through it, it doesn’t get to them because they’re entitled to it and they think they know it all.”

Anka’s memories of famines and life under pro-Soviet governments underscore his broader criticism of the system, Maher said.

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Anka said he saw the conditions firsthand while traveling to Poland and Czechoslovakia, where basic needs are difficult to find.

“Bill, back home in both countries, you would see lines around the blocks in these little stores for toothpaste, food, and T-shirts,” Anka said. “Everyone in my group and I left everything we brought. I left my clothes, everything. My suitcases were empty in both countries. I gave them away.”

“We’ve tried this. It’s an evil, evil system that doesn’t work,” Maher said. “I don’t know what kind of argument you’re having around the sausage barrel at 12:30 at night when you’re 22 years old arguing for America, but my bet would be you’re lining up for potatoes.”

Bill Maher criticized communism in his “Club Random” conversation with Paul Anka and said that young generations are not given enough information about the history of communism. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

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

“It wasn’t like going to Vegas,” Anka said. “This is Poland we’re talking about.”

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

Paul Anka recalled performing in Poland during the Cold War and learning that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated 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 into a hotel, there is only one bathroom on the entire floor, there is no room service, it is dark and gloomy,” Anka said. “All I had was vodka.”

Anka said he later heard news of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy while sitting next to a radio broadcasting Radio Free Europe in Poland.

“I think Kennedy was just killed,” Anka said. “Of course I started crying.”

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Anka said he took the stage shortly after and told the crowd that he was leaving Poland because of Kennedy’s death.

“I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I am going home. My president was killed, but one day I will come back. I have to go home,'” Anka said.

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

“He said to me, ‘You know, not all of them 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 for help in getting her daughter to school.

“He said, ‘Dear Mr. Anka, you are very right,'” Anka said. “I sent him the money. I sent the child to school.”