What happens when Communists win prize money?

[MadHatter]

For example, during the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's, I am sure a competitor from an eastern bloc country would have won a Grand Slam or Gold Open. What did they do with their prize money?

[Snooooopy]

This is only tangentially related to your question, but the Russian guy who developed the insanely addictive Tetris didn't earn a dime from it.

[Fyodor]

I have a Russian friend whose father worked for the U.N. in New York in the late seventies. The commie government collected many thousands every month from the U.N. for this Russian's salary and then paid him one thousand a month. They lived in a slum apartment. Remember, this is a government that executed people in Russia for hording coins.

[Spiny Norman]

I'm willing to bet that it either got confiscated or "exchanged" into whatever was legal tender in his country. This sounds draconian to us, but consider:

Money didn't matter as much in the old East Bloc (hard currency did, but you couldn't legally own any large-scale amounts) - many East Germans, for instance, had quite large bank accounts. The problem was spending it - there was practically nothing to buy.

That's not to say that a successful athlete didn't advance socially: He'd be a Socialist Hero and skip the waiting line for apartments, phones, cars etc. He'd probably be excused from military service - or at the very least get a cushy job, he'd be promoted within the Party and get access to nice perks etc.

Having the prize money confiscated must have been annoying, but really, for an East Bloc citizen, money was never the key to advancing in society.

S. Norman

[Pergau]

If I won enough I'd become a capatilist.