We, as a Poles keep complain! Thats why we move forward!

@@LewackiOnanista but what do you do when your complaints are not heard?

@@Mads-hl8xj we complain until they are, even if it takes years

@@Mads-hl8xj Then we change government.

He's from east so he does not get it. That is why they never created a nation.

poprzedni system był nam narzucony dzisiejszy to nasz naturalny stan... dla Ukrainy pierwszy stan jest naturalny... to ona z Białorusią i Rosją w składzie ZSRR nam go narzucała... czy możliwe jest u nich przyjęcie naszych standardów? wątpię... nie po tym co widzę... "baćko nasz bandera..." tfu!

That is the point. 30 years ago if one thrown trash on the street noone reacted. Today it is very possible, that someone will shout - pick it up or I call the police.

In the US we call it "The Broken Windows Theory" : In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.

"I think the way poland looks today is not the money, but the mentality change" wtf????

@@wielblad1344 Hm, since you respond in Polish to a comment written in English, I thought I would introduce whoever might read this to what you said. "previous system was imposed on us today's (system) is our natural state... for Ukraine former state is natural... it's them together with Belarus and Russia as a USSR team who imposed it on us... is it possible for them to take our standards on? I doubt it... not after what I am seeing... "baćko nasz bandera..." (that's for Stepan Bandera) ew!" So! Mate. Yes it is possible for people to accept and demand the same standards. We, the Polish people, are nothing special. Get it in your head. *We got lucky.* We are not martyrs, we are not the chosen ones. Yes people *before us* suffered greatly, people *before us* fought for freedom. Yes we have generational trauma, yes we are easily offended. Yes, we also help others. Stop Polandball'ing around, it's sad.

Hey Pete, thanks very much for your thoughts.

Greetings from Poland Pete

@@pawelodz8050 Thank you very much!!

in 1916 there was no polish german border. Till 1918 Poland was under Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian occupation.

@@xot80Thank you for the reply! )) I was not aware of that. I knew from reading history--back when they actually taught real world history in the US--"borders" were sometimes "fluid" and shifted frequently. Our family knows very little about the facts and circumstances surrounding my grandmother's early life in Poland. Letters that my cousin had that were written by one of her sisters who was sent to England say, among other things, that my maternal grandfather was a "Prussian Guard"--chosen because of his size. He was said to be a big man at 6'5" and weighed over 100kg...and that is where my height(6'4") came from. Do you, or anyone, know if this was true? My cousin believes she has the name of the city where my grandmother was born and presumably lived. Hopefully she will find the name of the city before I leave the US. We have her name. We understand that many churches kept birth and death records. Thanks again for your reply.

Just for history sake. Poland was lucky enough to never have been fully taken over by a single foreign force. We had different circumstances, we weren't dependent on USSR as we were never fully theirs, in 2004 we managed to join EU. Being able to work abroad plus all of the money coming in for schools, roads, bridges, hospitals, sports and culture buildings etc to level us up to 'European standards'. I cannot express how much I have seen my country change since then. I hope one day Poland (and EU) can help Ukraine rebuild and thrive just like we were lucky to get our chance. Ukraine is not yet lost while Ukrainian people are still alive. And kicking.

very true

Well Ukrainians think this is because Poland got to the EU the flood of money started to come. But this is only the half of the truth...

Ukraine was - sadly - too entangled in the "Russian world". Same with Bulgaria - as a Bulgarian told me recently.

Sadly I see this even happening here in the US, especially in our big cities.

Agree. I would also say after the Christianization Poland introduced the Roman Catholic Church and tied itself with Rome, that is Western culture. Orthodoxy on the other hand means the East. It was the church that ruled for centuries, these are the facts, whether we like it or not. And the Latin alphabet, it may seem trivial to someone, but alphabet identifies the state to western or eastern mentality. So maybe neighbors but sorry to say in my opinion not similar at all. Languages maybe similar in sounding but there is nothing strange in it, the neighbors often have quite similar languages, they had to communicate somehow, but for me personally it is much easier to understand a Slovak than a Ukrainian. This language for Ukrainians is also a serious problem, millions of Ukrainians (I think it’s something around half of population) use Russian on a daily basis. And from what I heard, even the current president Zalensky had to learn Ukrainian on some point, because he did not use it at all before the election. And language is one of the key foundations shaping the nation. I know there are countries that don't use their own languages, but they do it because they don't have their own language, so it's not that important for them. About half of the Ukrainian population do not use or even do not know the language, having it, and in this situation it is a huge problem in shaping nationality.

" And then, in the USSR, there was strong Russification and destruction of Ukrainianness, murdering of Ukrainian elites: hundreds of writers, painters, filmmakers, systematic, murdering of distinctiveness, starting from the 1930s and ending in the 1970s. Poland did not experience this" DIsagree. In both world war we lost heavy % of our ntelligentsia/culture ppl.

I am sure corruption had absolutely no part why things went wrong in Ukraine... Even today with all that is happening, I am sure there is no one in parliament including the team in the highest place are all Saints with not even a thought about getting a piece of the generous European pie which keeps on giving lol If you believe this, I have a bridge I would like to sell you.

@@natalias9031 very good points. Smart girl, pleasure to read 👌🏻

The paths to Independence for Poland and Ukraine were different. Poland fought for it, through Solidarity, whereas in Ukraine, it basically came when the Soviet Union collapsed, through no effort of their own. When you fight for Independence, you value it more. That is actually a silver lining to this war, Ukrainians will emerge from it with a greater appreciation of just what Independence means and will encourage them to improve their society.

lol he probably never witnessed the good side of Poland

No i z rozmów z ludźmi z Kijowa stwierdzam, że masz rację. Napatrzył się na Polskę z lat 90 zamiast na Niemcy i wziął za przykład 😂

Kliczko służy swym mocodawcom w usraelu.

@@stanisawm2304 a ty mocodawcom z roSSji?

@@GinsengStrip-wt8bl ale merytoryczny argument zastosowałeś. Nie mieszkam w Polsce 20 lat, a w Rosji nigdy nie byłem. Byłem za to w Upainie. We Lwowie banderowcy nie pozwalają nawet polskich profesorów uczcić. Ciebie to nie dotyczy bos Ty nie Polak, rozumiem.

Thanks Mark, appreciate it.

Steve, thank you. And you're awesome, too.

Same here, from the Netherlands 8 years ago

Thank you for being here.

@@planetjames95 You bet ya! I love your channel. I think you're the first youtuber I follow:) Also, all the best to your family. And as per always I offer my help should you need a helping hand from a local.

sława ukrainie??? tfu!!!! te słowa to słowa zbrodniarzy mordujących bezbronnych ludzi! oni chcieli zbudować nazistowską Ukrainę dla wąskiej grupy ludzi! i oni dziś bezwładnie podążają do mordoru jakim jest Rosja! i nie ma znaczenia czy Rosja ich podbije czy nie! czy obronią się czy nie! w Europie nie ma miejsca na nazistowskie państwo! nie ma miejsca na nazistowski naród! i nie ma tu znaczenia to jak bardzo wykorzystuje ten aspekt Rosja argumentując napaść... kult bandery zamyka im drogę ku zachodowi... i najwyraźniej zawsze w przeszłości popełniali ten sam błąd...

How I am annoyed by these stories that 20 years ago Poland "wasn't pretty". IT WAS pretty and well cared for. I remind you that we freed ourselves from the deep crisis of the 1980s 33 years ago, and 20 years ago, for example, in Warsaw, most of the sidewalks, roads, parks, were renovated, there was a developed infrastructure for residents, public transport was at a high level as usual (I mean, even in communist era it was quite good). All facilities for the handicapped, etc. were there. Twenty years ago Poland was not so different from today, it was already a modern country, although, of course, before the infrastructural investments, which were subsidized with EU money after accession to the EU (I mean a network of highways, revitalization of old factories into commercial centers, etc.). Traveling around the country, looking at it, was a pleasure 20 years ago and 30 years ago. Revitalization of small and large cities, opening of various interesting places etc. in the provinces began in the 1990s. I would also like to point out that Poland's GDP grew sharply from 1989 to 2019, and the country changed radically literally from year to year. In some respects it has never resembled Ukraine (I mean cleanliness, order in the countryside, self-organization of society, etc.). I think that Ukraine is only now entering the stage where we were 33 years ago. It is now, at an accelerated pace, that it is finally getting rid of the burden of the "Russian world" - that monstrous mentality and political enslave, which makes it difficult to crawl out of chaos, mess, lack of civil society and all-embracing aggressive selfishness. Ukrainians are very creative, brave, good educated, intelligent ppl - I think, that their country will change very quick now.

@@alh6255 nie sądzę aby dziś Ukraina była w jakikolwiek sposób w podobnym miejscu co my tych 33 lat wstecz... popatrz my zrzuciliśmy z siebie jarzmo ustroju totalitarnego i niejako jednogłośnie podążyliśmy drogą demokracji... mieliśmy tradycje samorządności i do nich chcieliśmy wrócić oczywiście w nowych realiach bo świat w miejscu wszak nie stoi... Ukraina dziś walczy o niepodległość... niepotrzebnie wzmacniają swoją narodową tożsamość o banderowski nazizm... rozumiem że jest taka potrzeba chwili ale to zamyka im drogę po wojnie... niezależnie od wyniku tej wojny! USA wielokrotnie w przeszłości wspierały podobne kraje czy też ideologie... wspierały militarnie ale po konflikcie nigdy nie dochodziło do finansowania odbudowy... takie państwa upadały i nigdy się już nie podnosiły... one tylko realizowały cele strategiczne a po ich osiągnięciu (zniszczenie neutralizacja zagrożenia) wsparcie nagle się kończyło... niestety "baćko nasz bandera" tfu!

Haha, good idea - I'll think about it :)

The "Paris of the North or East" was called Vilnius before World War II. During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Poles civilians were murdered by Germans and Ukrainians. Unfortunately, little is said today about the fact that Ukrainians collaborated with Hitler. My grandparents are from Lviv, from where they were expelled by Ukrainians in 1946.

@@stormyrain2957 Okay, and...? Trust me, I am very aware of the past and I will never forget it (my great-grandfather's family is also from Lviv), but you have to remember that Ukrainians living in Ukraine and Poland today are NOT responsible for the actions of their ancestors! Today our people are united & our nations are closely allied. I really hope that we - this includes you Sir - show Ukrainians living in Poland (and abroad) nothing but kindness and love.

Better not. This is part of the restricted nature reserve and entering there might be fined.

@@2mek99 well, that is something new for me. I used to visit this place for ages. Even if beach in Ciszyca will be closed, there are some other places by the river nearby. Still, the bike lane is nice for a small trip and even without visiting the beach you can spend really nice day.

it is probably better than here in Florida. you go to the beach, you might get red tide. I also wonder why suddenly my sentences start with lowercase letters here. perhaps KZfaq has imported programmers from Facebook...

You are absolutely right. I live in New Jersey. The other day at the playground there was a Ukrainian family (not war refugees), their little boy (about 8yo) was breaking plants and bothering other children to the point that other families started leaving the area. Eventually his mother was confronted and her angry answer was ' this is a public space and we can do watever we want to!'. There is a large Ukrainian community in my town, and all other Ukrainians that I've met are totally opposite. People in Poland used to have that mentality 'if it's everybody's than it's nobody's' but once they became members of EU and started traveling Poland changed tremendously. So, after the war is over. And refugees go back to Ukraine richer in new experience of how life can be much more pleasant, and modern they will apply that knowledge to rebuilding Ukraine. I see this war as a big opportunity to bring Ukraine to European standards. Let's hope they prevail and don't waste the chance. I'm sure the rest of the world will help. Just look at Poland, it used to be like Ukraine.

@@whiteeagle2585 Well said☺

@@whiteeagle2585 I don't recall that kind of mentality in my part of Poland but i guess ppl are different everywhere. My parents always emphasized respect towards things and especially public property as you could be fined for vandalizing.

@@askfox79 maybe I'm just older. When I was a kid in my town of 40K people there was not a single working swing in playgrounds, benches in parks had no slats to sit on etc etc. Now the town looks gorgeous, so clean, with pretty playgrounds, bicycle paths, public pool etc. Huge difference!

EU money is the most important. ;)

ta przepaść sięga rozpadu Rusi... to dlatego ruscy nacjonaliści próbowali zerwać z przeszłością Rusi i pojawiła się nowa nazwa (Ukraina) nowe symbole i niby nowa tożsamość... jak widać niczego to nie zmieniło... jak było tak nadal jest... ciągłe porażki...

Well said

Agree 100% a true sense of Ukrainian Nationhood is emerging.

It's not that simple ...I live in London and the city is very dirty ...most of people don't care throwing rubbish and littering...a lot of rough areas dirty council estates and residential areas...so many contrast (small towns are even worse); You can't say the UK was under East block countries...but still a lot of Polish live here or dream to come here ...not sure for the reason (maybe there are not enough jobs over there or salaries are low so they struggle here earning some money and go back build family home like typical "gastarbeiter" ; or maybe it is something to do that London is the world and country for itself melting pot full of different cultures ...Poland is extremely clean probably one of the cleanest countries in the world (other EU countries are not that clean still very very dirty)...

@@nebod1556 If you import 3rd World you get the 3rd World.

Ukraincy NIGDY nie beda moimi przyjaciolmi. Maja nienawisc do nas we krwi.

my z całą pewnością nie pomożemy odbudować Ukrainy! zachód tego nie zrobi! nawet gdy Ukraina się obroni to komu i co chcesz odbudowywać??? oligarchii ich majątki? a może chcesz wspomóc banderowski nazizm? niestety byli tak blisko i wybrali jak zawsze... "baćko nasz bandera..." tfu!

Well by then half of Ukraine will be Russia i am afraid....

nie z kultem bandery... to będzie kolejny raz stracona szansa... powiedz jak sobie wyobrażasz by kraje demokratyczne zachodu mogły finansować odbudowę nazistowskiego państwa? owszem wspierać takie państwo w wojnie mogą i to już wielokrotnie robiły... jednak po konflikcie w takim miejscu nie pozostawał przysłowiowy kamień na kamieniu a państwo upadało pod własnym ciężarem... "baćko nasz bandera..." tfu!

@@TapiKoks True, in the West we have people who are too entitled to work and a benefits system which rewards people for not working

nie zostanie odbudowana Ukraina... byli tak blisko i wybrali jak zawsze... "baćko nasz bandera..." tfu!

@@wielblad1344Tak jest!👏👏👏

After visiting Warsaw, I suspect now Warsaw is much cleaner than Berlin.

A ci ktorzy nadziei nie maja zmieniaja swiat na gorszy? No to juz wiem czemu Putin wojne prowadzi!

ani Polska ani cały świat nie sfinansują odbudowy nazistowskiego państwa... "baćko nasz bandera..." tfu!

Well you can believe whatever you wish to believe but looking at the present situation it looks like that this war will last for years and in the end half of Ukraine would be Russia (You can't fight the war with the nuclear superpower and it shows now with economical superpower in terms of gas and oil; Common people in the West already getting fed up with economically supporting Ukraine war because they are struggling now with food and electricity - talking about the UK)...

Thanks Rafal, appreciate your insight.

Use normal alphabet.

@@kiddhkane Which alphabet is normal for you? For me all are normal. I used the original spelling because their surnames are spelled differently in each language. For example: Володимир Кличко (UKR) = Владимир Кличко (RUS) = Władimir Kliczko/Kłyczko (POL) = Wladimir Klitschko (ENG) etc.

@@kiddhkane alphabet is an alphabet it’s not normal or supernatural. Букварь is not an alphabet!

Dzięki za info. Pamiętam Gwardia, Legia i Polonia miały silne sekcje boksu. Trenowałem lekkoatletyke na Polonii Warszawa i miałem okazję oglądać walki w 2lidze boksu, nieźle się tłukli i hala przy Konwiktorskiej zawsze pękała w szwach.

@@donpatrinho4251 If you like ukrainian language so much, you can move to ukraine. There's trains that go there.

I have forgotten to add. You are a very nice family. God Bless !!!

I wish you all the best and hope Ukraine will 🇺🇦, one day, achieve living standards similar to the Polish ones.

Tam dało sie wszystko kupić

UKraine 20-krotnie bogatsza w 1989???? Chyba chciałeś powiedzieć bogatsza o 20% (co mniej wiec koresponduje z rzeczywistością).

@@jacekboczarski6698faktycznie źle dobrałem słowa, znaczenie. Co nie zmienia faktu ze korupcja zniszczyła Ukrainę. :-)

Ale wiesz ogrze jeden, że Polska pisze się z dużej litery? Nie mam szacunku do kreatur, które nie szanują własnego kraju i swojego obywatelstwa. Na drzewo bucu!

@@nygaman Korupcja nie pomogła ale Ukraina miała dużo bardziej skomplikowane relacje gospodarcze i poje..go sąsiada.

Thank you Barbara

Ukraina nie należy do naszej cywilizacji i nie można oceniać jej poprzez nasze kryteria... popatrz wstecz na historię... ruskie księstwa to władza absolutna kniaziów później ci kniaziowie stali się magnatami którzy faktycznie się polonizowali ale nie czuli przynależności do państwa polskiego czego dawali liczne dowody często ją(Rzeczypospolitą) zdradzając i prowadząc własna politykę i chęć oderwania od państwa... dziś są tam oligarchowie... którzy rządza niemal w identyczny sposób jak wspomniani kniaziowie czy magnaci... całą władzę i majątek skupiają w swoich rękach... przy czym kolejny raz nie czują zbyt wielkiego związku z państwem i realizują własne interesy... popatrz ilu oligarchów poparło Rosję ilu USA a ilu własny naród... nie przypomina ci to sytuacji Rzeczypospolitej z czasów potopu szwedzkiego??? różnice bogactwa nie dotyczą ostatnich 30 lat... w czasach Rzeczypospolitej Polska była dwukrotnie liczniejsza demograficznie od WKL i 5 razy większą gospodarkę posiadała... wiesz że siatka utwardzonych dróg na Ukrainie jest 2 razy krótsza od tej w Polsce? a przecież Ukraina to 2 razy większe terytorium! ta zapaść cywilizacyjna trwa po prostu do dziś dnia! a sowiecka okupacja jedynie ten dystans zmniejszyła jednak nie bogactwem wschodu a redukowaniem państw okupowanych... ja nie żałuję w żadnym stopniu tego co stało się na Ukrainie... to są konsekwencje ich wyboru! popatrz na starszą kobietę... ona zadaje pytanie dlaczego Kliczko nie zrobił im tego co widział na zachodzie... my pytaliśmy dlaczego nie mamy tak jak na zachodzie i do tego dążyliśmy niemal wszyscy! w swoich mieszkaniach domach we wspólnotach tak tych gminnych powiatowych wojewódzkich jak i państwowych... na każdym szczeblu liczą się potrzeby wspólnoty! tej małej większej i całości! żaden polityk nie mógł bezkarnie tego pomijać i lekceważyć! owszem byli tacy politycy bo to że tak napisze ludzka natura brać dla siebie ale presja społeczna stara się takich polityków eliminować jak widzimy w stopniu znacznie większym niż na Ukrainie... a oni szukają do dziś kolejnego cara... kolejnego kultu jednostki! dziś "baćko nasz bandera..." a to odetnie im drogę do cywilizowanego świata... świat nie odbuduje im nazistowskiego państwa! kolejny raz stracą szansę na dołączenie do zachodu... jeszcze raz popatrz wstecz ile było takich konfliktów w których ważyły się losy przynależności cywilizacyjnej Ukrainy? dlaczego nic z tego do tej pory nie wyszło??? no właśnie... my nie jesteśmy władni tego zmienić... możemy jedynie na nich naciskać i wysuwać swoje żądania! ale tego nie robimy w myśl poprawności politycznej... i kolejny raz finalnie trafią do tego samego mordoru jakim jest Rosja... pod jej butem czy nie... nie ma to żadnego znaczenia...

this is it

Because Russia is like leech who drinks all vitals from Ukraine and that's why they're now fare behind Poland

They chose vodka, bacon, and colchosa jobs over freedom, democracy, and prosperity.

Ukraine was not in better shape than Poland in 1989-1991 period. Ukraine had higher GDP per capita because it had much bigger military complex, what creates GDP but not a real weatlth. Plus Ukraine was a part of "some" other country, what had to create extra problem. If in Poland there were to cooperating manufaturies, one in Warsaw, second in Krakow, it was one thing. Other thing is one factory in Kyiv, second in Moscow, third in Baku, fourth in Riga, with four different tax and law systems and four different ideas what is profitable. And Poland didn't have "brother" who was undermining every try of building normal country.

sądzisz że jest jakakolwiek szansa aby Ukraina stała się demokratycznym krajem??? ja nie mam już takich złudzeń...

Thanks Adrian! Means a lot, man.

I will be for a short time in Warsaw next month with my friend from UK , If for some chance you are there at the time maybe we could meet for a coffe or a drink ? anyway hanks again for a cool vibe you giving