Sir, – The Polish youth, whom Paddy Agnew (Letter from Poland, June 26th) observed and praised for their outgoing attitude, are in fact a small percentage of the population. They are the nouveau riche (or the children of the nouveau riche), given to show off and flattered by a contact with a foreigner, but I assure you they are steeped in backwardness.
As opposed to those eye-catching juvenile groups, there are masses of less well-off, who remain in shade.
Under the surface of prosperity – measured here by flashy gadgets such as iPhones, etc. and by numerous modern buildings funded by EU and erected largely by foreign companies – is the stark reality of the struggle to make ends meet. Costs of living are soaring: it takes large contributions from three family members to support another one at university.
In the country where there are no college fees, one has to go into debt to provide heating for the cold season; utility bills can exceed a person’s weekly wages; one litre of petrol costs low- earners one hour of their labour; unemployment benefit lasts only six months without possibility of its renewal. The country is economically mismanaged and politically being led astray.
People who have been through this are not happy.
If we take away the current Championship mood, we will find the landscape is bleaker than that of the communism era, which seems to be so abhorrent to Mr Agnew, and we will see horrors of deprivation on a scale unseen since the 1950s.
I also protest at the pairing of Nazism and communism as the two oppressive forces to the Polish state. It is a misconception, which ought not to be popularised in a respectable paper. Those were two opposite and mutually hostile movements and it was precisely the latter, which liberated and emancipated us. Communism reversed the ravages of the Nazi war, ensured stability in which we grew, invested heavily in domestic economy, promoted social and family values and instilled the ethos of human kindness. Opinions on its methods may vary, but it is irrefutable that it educated three generations of Polish people, many of whom have now made capital out of its achievements. – Yours, etc,