AM I A COMMUNIST NOW? Exploring a Soviet Utopia. KRAKOW, POLAND.
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- Inspired by Bald and Bankrupt's Soviet adventures, I embarked on my own journey to explore a fascinating and unique destination in Krakow, Poland-Nowa Huta. Nowa Huta was conceived as a model communist urban center to support a massive steelworks factory, built under Josef Stalin's regime. I thoroughly enjoyed my day trip to Nowa Huta, located just 20 minutes away from Krakow's city center. It felt like stepping into a time capsule of the USSR.
Thank you for this Educational look around this City.
I can confidently say that Nowa Huta is one of the safest districts of Kraków nowadays. This definitely wasn't the case 20+ years ago and I suppose a lot of old people remember it as such
@TheNewLooter I now know it too! And I've been there quite a few times after dark, a very calm area!
Great video. Saw a few and subscribed. Watching from America.
@kenwaterman7799 Thanks!
Krakow my favorite city as well. She helped me at the darkest of times. 🇨🇦❤🇵🇱 Going back soon to visit my lovely Krakow
Edit: Seems you attracted plenty of Soviet fanatics! I was recently in Gdansk and the Europejskie Centrum Solidarności is just amazing.
@Atlantis.Reborn That's awesome! Krakow has that magic, doesn't it? Enjoy your trip back!
Great video. I am happy you aknowledge the history in this part of Europe becusse too many ignore it. We have done similar videos in the Baltic oart of Europe, Bulgaria, and more.
Useful idiots - """The term is ascribed to Lenin, but its origin is uncertain. It originally referred to Western intellectuals who naively supported the Bolsheviks and the Soviet Union, ignoring the realities. Lenin and Stalin were said to secretly despise such people, but found them “useful” for their propaganda. Thus, they were called “useful idiots.” The phenomenon still exists today.""
Today, the "useful idiots" are all supporting the Atlantacists and the Z's.
well, the term originated from the west, the same west that was not in dirty propaganda war against USSR, they wouldn't lie, they were and are all about democracy, non-discrimination, not fighting wars, workers rights and so on, so they called pro-Communists idiots, and somehow you guys still perpetuate kindergarten level of propaganda...
That's a great look into the past. It gives us a comparison between then and now. There is a feeling of improvement, a reminder that we are better off today. Thank you for the tour.
That is interesting for me, as I work as an engineer building modern steel plants. It was part of my job to destroy the old, Soviet plants built for example in China. In former East Germany, the same happened as in Nova Huta: They built at the same time "Stalin City" or Stalinstadt. It's now renamed into Eisenhüttenstadt, which is Huta City 😉
Fun fact: The same Indian owned company operates the steel plants in Eisenhüttenstadt and in Nova Huta.
In Poland, I once worked in the former Lenin shipyard in Gdansk helping with the certification of a British oil platform before it was sent to the North Sea. It is interesting how some "communist" enterprises managed to adapt, and are at a modern level today. Also, Gdansk is a safe place to visit 😊
@donallen8414 Thanks for your comment! It's really an interesting insight. I looked up pictures of Eisenhüttenstadt, and you're right-it does have architectural similarities with Nova Huta. I should probably go and visit for another vlog, haha. It's located very close to the Polish border.
I also did some research on ArcelorMittal while preparing for my video. I was initially puzzled about its origins, wondering if it was an Indian company due to its ties with Lakshmi Mittal. However, it turns out the headquarters is now located in Luxembourg
i was workin in Ddr and i was weekends in tsekkosslovakia. i like kommunism.
This video has a nice original vibe, can't really desribe it. This should have more views fr
@stanisawaugustponiatowski718 Thank you for watching! I am glad you liked it!
thank you!
That steel mill administrative building has the Polish parapet on the top of the roofline. That was an element of Renaissance architecture unique to Poland.
@jdariusz7760 Absolutely! Today, its architecture and layout stand out for their unique blend of Renaissance and communist influences. I was particularly impressed by the spiral staircase inside the steel mill's administrative building, which features stunning Renaissance-style design.
The UWP brought some new ideas to stagant backward poland including new architecture
Hi there, I'm from Poland and I absolutely exploring post-Soviet areas of cities in Eastern Europe :)
I just visited Riga, Jurmala, Torun (my favourite city in Poland), Grudziadz and Warsaw in January, but last year I've also been to Gdansk, Poznan, Krakow, Narva, Tallinn, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Prague, Berlin (East), Dresden, Budapest and Bratislava and the general rule was, as you said, the farther away from the historic city centre/old town the more remnants of the cities' communist past you see.
This year I'd like to visit Vilnius, Lviv, Bucharest, Brasov, Plovdiv, Belgrade and Sarajevo.
But from what I've noticed, Poland (and other countries) has invested quite a lot of money into renovating and modernising old architecture. I'm from the city of Kielce and nowadays it definitely looks way nicer since I last visited it 10-15 years ago.
All the best
@victor1191That's quite an extensive list of cities you've explored! It's fascinating to hear about your adventures and observations in post-Soviet areas. It seems like you've gained a unique perspective on the transformation of these cities over time. I hope your upcoming trips to Vilnius, Lviv, Bucharest, Brasov, Plovdiv, Belgrade, and Sarajevo are just as enriching. Thanks for sharing your experiences, and all the best to you too!
Love this video … history and real life legacy of the ussr is fascinating
@mediastudiesnetwork thanks for watching!
@@TetianaSim Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦
I also love Krakow. It has the nicest square in all of Europe (that i've seen so far). I was mostly impressed by the Salt Mine, though. You have to take the whole tour--not just the initial short one. As for the bomb shelter, nothing can protect against a nuclear attack unless you are far enough away from it and, there aren't too many others. The bombs that hit Japan ending World War II in the Pacific were 2% the strength of the lesser nuclear bombs today. These would dig a hole through anything several kilometers deep. The best protect is underground not too close from where it hits and staying there for at least 10 days, if not several weeks. The first two hours are the deadliest, in terms of radiation that will kill you quickly. The more time passes, the less deadly the radiation. Still, you should wear a mask or keep a cloth over your face.. The radiation is in the dust particles in the air. Depending on the kinds of bursts (ground or air) and number of them, this radiation could be around from anywhere from three weeks to three years. Air bursts kill more people immediately but leave little to no radiation. Ground bursts do not reach as far but leave far more deadly radiation. I think most would be air bursts, in a real nuclear war. I know all of this from my military training (in the U.S. Army) and some reading beyond that.
@solifugus thanks for the informative comment!
👍
Nice Nowa Huta.
I was in Krakow for five days in January. I ordered the best borscht that I've ever tasted at a restaurant in the old Town.
Nice! Did you memorize the name of that place?
Nice
Every place you went looked clean, even the public transit. Here in America, the bigger cities are turning into wastelands. I’m glad I live in a smaller city.
Hi @gregblake2635! I spent last summer in America and lived in a small city, Rochester Hills, MI. It was also very clean! But I know how the metro in NY looks like. I noticed that the USA is quite diverse - just a 15-20 minute drive from Rochester Hills, and you reach Pontiac, which looks much worse. I also visited what is perhaps one of the most depressing cities, Detroit, with its many abandoned factories and destroyed houses, which was neither shocking nor surprising for me. What was truly shocking were the reports of gun shootings and the signs with crossed guns on facilities like elementary schools. And that's true - Eastern Europe is very clean and safe! So come to visit, if you have never been here! :)
American is a country in decline because of the political party currently in charge. Cities like Detroit,Chicago,New York,and Los Angeles are basically war zones. The crime and especially gun violence make them not safe to walk down the street. The political party in charge here embraces Globalism. Which in my opinion is a form of communism. I would love to travel to Europe, there are many countries I would like to explore,but we live in troubled times,and being an American isn’t very popular. Safety would be a concern for me. Have you experienced any safety issues in your travels??
@gregblake2635 I've seen quite a few American tourists here in Krakow, Poland, and there is a small community of expats from the USA. Poles definitely like American tourists as they always tip well, haha, and it is super cheap for Americans in Eastern Europe. I was lucky and never really experienced any safety issues. When I traveled to Detroit, I arrived in the afternoon with a local woman, and we had lunch downtown. I also visited the Detroit Institute of the Arts, which was an amazing place with a stunning collection of paintings by many European artists. It made me think about how prosperous and wealthy the city was back in the day. I hope you get to visit all the places on your travel list. Stay safe!
Poles were also robbed by Soviets after the war, lots of property products were transported outside of the country...
The Soviet Union and United Workers Party did much for poland .First cleaning up the devastation from the war then launching a new era surpassing the backwardness of the old pre-war right wing regime . For the first time polish people had access to education and health care .No more starvation and wretched poverty .Also the strangling grip of the Catholic Church was broken .No more wars/mass killing to hold on to on to non Polish areas like Ukraine , Belarus, Lithuania .
@bearriver666 Thank you for your informative comment!
As a Pole here... makes me want to really say that this is all veeeery misleading! Catholic church did not havr a strangling grip on Poland, Russia killed Polish educated people, read about Katyn Massacre... they stole property... and we fought for liberty in Solidarnosc movement and finally got it back. Maybe they let some of live but not in order for us to live happily but to take advantage of us and to install a different identity ultimately.. eradicate what was Polish culture!
Wikipedia says similar.. how the (strangely) Poland benefited
Only thing which you have to avoid there is a smog, all the rest is Mittle Europa at its best. By the way, somehow we don't call "nowa huta" communist. We call it Soviet. Little difference, but generally today, it's beyond doubt threaten as Russian provided disaster. Obviously grim and ugly. Nice video though.
Dude spiked his drink with Vodka?, how Slavic is that?.
@Siranoxz Haha, and wasn't ashamed of sharing this with people.
Are you from Texas?
I'm from Ukraine.
@@TetianaSim You have my sympathy. I visited Moscow and Kiev in 1982, and found both cities beautiful and inspiring. Ukraine and Russia were at peace back then, and Ukraine was prosperous and powerful. The population was 51 million and growing! Then the U.S. Empire offered "Freedom and Democracy" to the Soviet bloc. So now, what is left of Ukraine is totally dependent on Uncle Sam and loans from the I.M.F.. Five hundred thousand are dead and major cities have been reduced to rubble. But none of that matters, because the country is now ruled by "Freedom and Democracy". Right.
Communists follow weird rituals in a party or oppose social classes according to theory.
According to theory? Who's/what theory?
Communists reject utopia. Communism is, essentially, government of, by, and for the people. It will always be flawed, because we humans are flawed. But over time it improves, because we humans have the ability to adapt and learn from our mistakes.
World War I is what led to the 07 Nov 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Of the millions of Russians Tsar Nichilas II sent to the front, 2,250,000 came back dead and another 3,340,000 came back maimed. The Russian people found this horrendous loss intolerable, and sided with the Bolshevik Party, which promised "Peace! Bread! Land!". Two days after the Bolsheviks gained power, Lenin issued his "Decree on Peace", the decree that pulled Russia out of the capitalist bloodbath in the west.
All the foreign visitors here please remember Soviets attacked Poland during the war, killed bombarded and deported all families to Sybir, don't be misled!
Attractiveness decreases big time if communist, changing hair color is big sign
More like an anti utopia (lived there)
@sareeea haha, living in the city center, this excursion was quite intriguing for me.
Soviet influence? It was brutal Soviet occupation. Also Poland was not a part of USSR.
@jankowalski6338 How would you describe Nazi Germany, then? Widespread destruction, mass killings, and the implementation of policies aimed at eliminating Polish culture and enslaving or exterminating Polish people, particularly Jews.
@@TetianaSim how many Jewish vs non Jewish Poles were killed?
@@TetianaSim so nazi Germany wasn't different than soviet Russia then. You can be influenced by Holywood when kacaps murdered, raped, exterminated and enslave that's not an influence but brutal occupation.
Hope this helps.
@@TetianaSim I see that my answer was deleted. Interesting.
@jankowalski6338 totally right, the author knows nothing about Katyn forest Massacre maybe
As a Pole here... makes me want to really say that this is all veeeery misleading! (One of the comments here saying good things abiut the regime... cannot post it under it directly for some reason)Catholic church did not havr a strangling grip on Poland, Polish people loved our catholic faith and it was what gave us strength) Russia killed Polish educated people, read about Katyn Massacre... they stole property... and we fought for liberty in Solidarnosc movement and finally got it back. Maybe they let some of live but not in order for us to live happily but to take advantage of us and to install a different identity ultimately.. eradicate what was Polish culture!
Also that is a real pitty that the author of the videp liked the comment of this person
The thing I loved about Krakow is that that city loves it's Democratic Freedoms despite its history with Communism and Nazism
3:15 You shouldn't talk Russian, play Russian music while in Poland even on a historical walk, oh you are from Ukraine
Not all Ukrainians are alike! Some, like the supporters of Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukevich, tortured several hundred thousand innocent Polish men, women, and children to death. Other Ukrainians fought against the Hitlerites and their collaborators. The regime the U.S. installed in Kiev on 22 Feb 2014 treats Bandera as its national idol: That tells us much.
Why are you using Russian name for this city? The European name for it is Krakau, and "Huta" is called Hüttenwerk.
@JohnSmith-pu4wf Yes, Germany had a dream, but nobody liked it. Now it is Kraków and Huta in Polish.
cringe
your nose looks very red indeed..almost chosen.
bro what is this title? are you insane? no, I'm not watching a second of your video
Love the title! Yes, by all means, become a communist! Demonstrate your independence and defiance!
In the Capitalist Utopia that has swallowed up Poland, profit is sacred. Human values and needs become irrelevant, and the entire human race becomes disposable. When we idolize the inhuman, we lose the human. A system that serves Mammon and Molocy -- the two worst devils -- is not a system that benefits humanity.
I'm a Marxist Leninist Communist and I am disappointed by discovering you are not a communist but an echo board for American imperialist lies. I do believe that you believe what you say and I find your vlogging style quite pleasant but I am confident you are not a good critical thinker who has explored the last century of history in your region as if you did, your views wouldn't fall into the goal posts that of the American ruling class propaganda narratives.
Are you really so free now? Free enough to go work in the UK at a cafe or in Ireland picking fruit on minimum wage, living with 10 other eastern european people, saving a few bucks? I have seen this in my rural region of Ireland, 15 educated Poles living in a shack, picking fruit for well below the minimum wage. I have seen the fate of the educated Polish youth, forced to live abroad to save a few dollars as the Polish wages are so low that Poles leave Poland to earn a slightly less shit wage abroad. I've also seen Poles living illegally in the US and Australia on much lower wages because they can't earn enough money at home. So the best and brightest leave Poland but you have freedom! It's been 35 yeas since the fall of Communism in Poland. Where is the prosperity and freedom?
How much say do Poles really have in their government's decisions?
I understand you are Ukranian but I ask you as someone living in Poland.
By the way, it's illegal to be a Communist in Poland. I've seen an interview with a Polish communist who has been criminally charged for being a communist and making his views public through his website. So you're free in Poland to express political views in alignment with what the government approves of? In case you don't know, that isn't freedom at all.
@paulciaro158 In this video, my intention was to provide general information about the Soviet city of Nowa Huta and discuss some facts about the Solidarity movement and the removal of communist symbols such as statues. I must clarify that I am not a communist, but rather a product of the Soviet Union, born and raised in Ukraine. While I find the monumentalism and scale of socialist realism architecture fascinating, I approach the topic of communist ideology with neutrality for several reasons. Firstly, it is a sensitive subject, especially given Ukraine's ongoing process of decommunization and the banning of communist symbolism. Secondly, I acknowledge that I am not an expert on the matter.
I appreciate your perspective on the lack of real freedom, as individuals often cannot openly express their political or ideological views. Your insights shed light on the challenges faced by many in Poland and beyond. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
ok, comrade. It was always better to pick fruits in the West than be 'free' under the commies.
@@TetianaSim you aproaching the subject of idealogy that led to death of millions of Ukrainians with neutrality? Interesting. I don't think you should.
lmao
i have an alternative view. my mother lives in the UK, she moved her with me 20 years ago when i was one. she owns her house here and yes, doesn’t necessarily have the best job but I have opportunities literally no one ever in my bloodline has had. i’m studying at a reputable university and have secured an internship with a law firm, hopefully a training contract soon after ;). I have two cousins, one finished his compsci degree and actually moved back to Poland to live in gdansk where he lives comfortably. the other is still studying. my point is, my life is ridiculously better than anyone in my family ever has had it. it’s a world where those who want to,can. my mother did not have this at my age… whilst her fellow young people very much did in the west. to say poles are worse off now than under communism to be outright false.
How did you achieve to learn English so well but preserve this horrible pronunciation? It feels like a corkscrew is being screwed in deeper and deeper into my ears with every word you say! Yuk!
@eugeniocalucci3825 Haha, perhaps it's just how my voice sounds.
Huh? From my own experience with speakers of Eastern Slavic languages, her accent sounds fine.
@@TetianaSimI'm a native English speaker, and you sound just fine! ❤ from 🇨🇦
@@Atlantis.Reborn Thanks for your support!
@@victor1191 Thanks for your support!