Poland was one of the poorest countries in Europe, but since an uprising that overthrew socialism it is now set to become richer than the UK, says Rainer Zitelmann

In recent years, I have visited Poland more frequently than any other European country, and I am always amazed by the country’s remarkable economic development and rising standards of living. Poland has been Europe’s growth champion for several decades.

Before I travel to a country, I begin by studying its history so that I can understand it better. That’s why I met Alicja Wancerz-Gluza, co-founder of the Karta Center in Warsaw. The Center encompasses 5,000 books and brochures, around 35,000 newspapers, 300 posters and 1,000 postcards from the anti-communist underground movement.

During our conversation, Alicja explained the realities of everyday life in Poland under the socialist planned economy. She showed me the pile of ration cards Polish people needed to buy food and other products until the collapse of the socialist regime in the late 1980s. The first ration cards were for sugar in 1976. Until the end of socialism, more and more of these ration cards were added – for all kinds of products, including meat, fat, butter, detergent, soap, cigarettes, gasoline and even shoes.

“It was a truly special occasion,” recalled Alicja, “when I got a special card from the registry office that would allow me to buy white tights for my wedding. I was also given a certificate stating that because we were getting married we were allowed to buy gold wedding rings in a jewelry store. But we didn’t have the money for that, and we didn’t want rings anyway. So, there were special cards for all occasions, for........

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