Nov. 9 Commemorates the End of Communist Rule in Many Parts of Eastern Europe

Nov. 9, 1989, is a glorious day in the minds and hearts of the Eastern Bloc in Europe. It was the day East Berliners were allowed to visit those in West Berlin after decades of being separated. It was the day the wall effectively came down, and set the wheels in motion for an end to the Soviet domination of Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, the Czech and Slovak republics, and other countries, years later.

For Klara Cvitanovich, growing up in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a port city on the Adriatic Sea, the memories of Communist rule are seared in her consciousness. While she and her family were allowed to attend church, they were watched by neighbors who were informants.

"Only the best jobs, the best of everything went to those who were good Communists, who didn't go to church," Cvitanovich says.

After midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, she said her family would parade up and down the main square.

"It was a show of solidarity, of pride -- in other words, we know you are watching us, we know you control our livelihoods, but we are unafraid and we flaunt our religion in your faces," Cvitanovich says.

Christmas always meant steaming platters of Croatian sarma and trays piled high with krostule for dessert, a tradition she continues.

Today, Cvitanovich is as far removed from Dubrovnik as one could be. She and her husband, Drago Cvitanovich, and son, Tommy Cvitanovich, own Drago's Seafood restaurants in New Orleans and Metairie, La. Although she loves her new homeland, she makes frequent visits to Croatia to visit her mother and sister who still live there.

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