In the 1980s, Poland was called the Polish People’s Republic. The foreign debt was over US$23 billion, and the country was forced to export everything it could, particularly food and coal, to service its massive debt. Inflation was very high, because the government was forced the raise the prices, which led to further large-scale social unrest and formation of the Solidarity movement. Rationing and queuing became a way of life, even to a buy toilet paper, people had to wait for hours in the queue. Access to luxury goods was nearly impossible because people were running out of the basic necessities. The socialist system influenced every sphere of life. The socialist food distribution system barely functioned, tanks rolled along the streets.
The following pictures show Poland in the early 1980s when it was under the communist regime. These photographs were captured by Chris Niedenthal.
During the 1980s, Bruno Barbey took some excellent photos of Poland, though his photo book is no longer available.
A photo proves that the free market is millions of times better than communism.
Life in the Soviet Union was a million times worse than this.
The Soviet Union was much more prosperous than Poland, which was one of the worst countries in the eastern block
It’s not entirely true. Yes, it was more prosperous than Poland, but rich does not necessarily mean a high standard of living. The rural areas of SU resembled medieval peasants more than XX century citizens. Even today, it shows. I live in eastern Poland, near the border with Russia and Lithuania- crossing it feels like stepping back in 60 years.
It brings back so many painful memories. 🙁
Amazing. It’s very cool to see these. Thanks for sharing.
There were food stamps, empty shelves, and religious symbols and pictures everywhere. We used to steal empty bottles from the back of stores and return them to the front for a refund, to buy things from them xD
A new wave of strikes in early August 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union Solidarity (Solidarność) led by Lech Wałęsa. The government of Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in December 1981 in response to the growing strength and activity of the opposition.