What does it take to open a museum of your own? A big dose of enthusiasm, that much is certain and… a love of vintage cars. But it takes more than that - Dinko Koushev, who recently opened his own museum of socialism in his home town of Peshtera wants to keep the memory of his childhood years alive. In the building that once housed the town's cinema, he has put together a collection is flashy vintage vehicles - the pride and joy of the automotive industry in the times of socialism. One of them - a Chaika manufactured more than 40 years ago, with electrically heated windows and air conditioning - seems to be the biggest attraction. 

Dinko Koushev started collecting the cars 5-6 years ago but has now added a great many other object from those times:

 “Actually, this is my childhood. We have more than 20 display cabinets here that showcase what life was like in those days - all kinds of objects people used every day, the technology. When people see them, they bring back childhood memories. However difficult life may have been then, people now feel nostalgic. It is a time I like very much, despite the hardships and squalor. But when I was a child, I knew nothing of this, though life must have been hard for our parents. Looking back now people can form an opinion what it was like back then.”

Dunko Koushev has put a lot of love in his collection and says he feels proud of having made his dream come true, but also because he sees that the people from the town like it. “They all support me,” he says.

“I would like to preserve this portion of history for people to see. It is very important to have authentic surroundings - we are now inside an old movie theatre, authentic, exactly as it was in the times of communism. It stood empty for more than fifteen years and now we have breathed new life into it.”

Though Dinko Koushev is proud of his museum collection the memories of the past make him sad.

“There are no values now. We have to put more thought into that, into the culture and upbringing of young people.”

English version: Milena Daynova