The content of the article is a historical analysis of the presence, understanding and validity of the Iron Curtain metaphor in the field of social sciences. After 1989, it might seem that the fall of the Iron Curtain had lost its relevance and the metaphor had become dead. It’s recall by Władimir Załęski in connection with the war in Ukraine prompted a re-analysis of the sense, meaning and emotions associated with it. The question of how this commonly known metaphor influenced (and influences) our understanding of reality and to what extent it constitutes a reliable analytical category is subject to reflection.