Oppressed

You've heard of the "French resistance" who resisted their Nazi overlords in World War II for about five years. Not as well known is the story of the people of Poland who did that for decades under their Communist overlords, from 1946 to 1989.

"By the 1980s, the communists’ promise of a better life under socialism had given way to appalling safety conditions in workplaces, sooty air that posed a major health threat, frequent shortages of everything from gasoline to toilet paper, and luxury living for party officials while the masses lived at two-thirds the world standard for 1980. A national housing shortage was so pronounced that the average waiting time to get an apartment was 15–20 years."

Tomorrow's post - how the Poles invented ways to get around their Communist restrictions. 

(cont'd tomorrow)