I believe that Poland has been already defeated by Germany and the USSR

IMO, the country won’t ever be the same.

Before World War II, 10% of Poland was Jewish. 3 million Jews killed by the Nazis were Polish Jews. The death rate among Jewish children was 99.99%. That’s an entire generation gone!

Poland was a great country and a great power in Europe. In the days of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, it was even nicknamed “Paradisus Judaeorum,” which means the paradise of the Jews. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradisus\_Judaeorum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradisus_Judaeorum)) There was a lot more diversity, and Jews and people of Catholic faith used to live together. A lot of Polish people associate Jews with greed, but actually, back then, it was the opposite.

Before communism and war, Poland was a center of education and research, with many educated minds, inventors, and professors. (e.g., Nicolas Coppernicus) and nobility. Lvov/Lwów used to be a great and well-known city with important buildings before, ultimately, it was taken by the Russians. There were many writers, philosophers, musicians, officials, and scientists, and I feel like generally people were more ambitious, from what I know.

It seems that people were really brave. An example of this is the Warsaw Uprising. And how they were giving their lives away to protect their fellow residents.

But then, we all know what comes next. Extermination camps were built against the Polish will (and Poland is still blamed for this; a lot of propagandists put the blame on Poland, but actually people could get killed for protecting a Jew). Basically, almost the entire Jewish population was slaughtered, Warsaw was almost entirely destroyed (and then rebuilt), and then Poland fell into communism.

It seems that communism has really ruined the Polish economy and the minds of the Polish people. Now, people expect everything to be handed down to them. Probably, if war broke out now (in Poland), nobody would give a shit about other people.

Communism has left Poland backwards. Look at France or the countries that accepted Marshall’s plan. (Poland rejected it under USSR influence.) How developed they are. And now look at Poland. A lot of people are suspicious of each other. There isn’t as many great minds as there used to be. If people want to study seriously, they just study abroad (and there is nothing wrong with it).

Also, antisemitism seems to be on the rise. (Which is ridiculous, since Jews have been on the Polish ground for more than 1000 years.) Also, the USSR played a part in this, too. People who are anti-semitic are hypocritical. Jews have greatly contributed to Poland. they’ve been a part of it. I believe that a subject at schools named “Jewish history” in Poland would be a great idea.

And, of course, the government. Poland is under the rule of a right-wing populist, sexist, homophobic Catholic government that manipulates naive and old people into voting for them by giving them money, which is from their taxes anyway. The inflation is getting out of hand. I have no hope it’ll get better.

In conclusion, Poland has a wonderful history, but I believe it’s not a great country to live in anymore.

by No-Confidence-4271