Communism and Overthrowing Communism in Poland




Communism is a political ideology of free society with no division or alienation. In other words, it is an ideology, where there are no governments, no class divisions and no private ownership. In Poland communism came at end of the 1940’s and lasted until the early 1990. There are a lot of conflicts between people who think that communism was a good part of history, and those who think that it was kind of unnecessary. In Poland, people think that this system was not good enough because every political party who governed forgot about the ideology of communism, and tried to make benefits only for themselves. Communism has had a big impact on a lot of people in my country. The lack of freedom made some invariable and unavoidable changes for my family; however, December 29 1989 took communism from Poland for good and offered some new opportunities for my family.

Communism restricted almost everything, especially small business and education for citizens. Instead, they had to work for the country, and help build a new political free land. A lot of people who tried to have something for themselves couldn’t make progress because the political rules didn’t give permission to own anything. The populace didn’t have a chance to make their dreams come true; sometimes they didn’t even have enough money to live freely and without worrying about the following day. My father could learn at his profession, but when he finished four years of his school, the administration of the country didn’t give him papers so he could continue his education. Who knows what have happened if he had gotten a chance to broaden his knowledge?


The next effect of living in a communist country was the lack of immigration freedom that slowed down my parents’ plans of coming to The United States. Our governing party brought to administration the regulation of giving passports only for politicians and VIPs. When I asked my father why they did that, the answer wasn’t shocking. They did it to control every single person in the country, and to be sure that people were working for the nation. Moreover, they brought in the Martial Law as a state of emergency, where the police could put you in jail if you were outdoors after 10 p. m.; they did it because they wanted to control everyone, just in case if someone wanted to run away from Poland. My parents had a chance to come to the United States a long time ago as they got an invitation from my uncle. However, they didn’t get passports and couldn’t run away from their homeland full of restrictions and unfair rules.

The last effect is more optimistic because it does connect with the overthrowing of communism, which gave more opportunities for my family and me. In 1989, one year after I was born, the new ideology of democracy came and changed everything for good. There were no more Martial Law, no more language restrictions and no more restrictions of freedom. Finally, my dad started his school again; my mom changed her profession and opened a small business, and they could get everything in malls again, not only vinegar and spirits. There were two people that helped to bring down this ideology Pope John Paul 2nd and Lech Walesa. Both of them tried to make speeches to show how politicians changed the ideology of communism and made benefits only for themselves. Hopefully, the enthusiasm of new and fresh air won this battle; they gave freedom for average people who existed in Poland.

Communism as an ideology should guarantee the same standards of life for everyone unfortunately politicians that governed in Poland made it beneficial only for the elite, so a lot of people lost their possessions and freedom as did my family. History changed everything and everyone. Sometimes I try to think who would I be if history could change in the past? Would I have another life or never been born? However, I don’t have any machine that could move me back to the past as in the science fiction movies. It is confusing; in fact, I think that people from my generation should be grateful for what they have. I am also glad that my upbringing didn’t have communism as a main ideology of the country because I like to be free and express myself in my own way.