Poland: which catastrophe wrecked its economy the most

Poland, its catastrophes and the mirage of comparing pavor

The claim is provocative, and that is why it stirs up an uncomfortable controversy: Auschwitz was not the most atrocious thing that has peine in Poland. The discussion, however, does not stop at the Holocaust. Among the answers emerge Palaeolithic cannibalism, the Swedish Deluge and Stalinism. Behind the irony lies an economic question: which catastrophe destroyed more of the country's wealth?

The oldest episode comes from archaeology. A study led by the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA) found evidence of cannibalism in the Maszycka cave, with remains dating back some 18,000 years. It is the most remote precedent cited, even though its economic impact is, obviously, impossible to calculate.

The other major candidate is the Swedish Deluge of the 17th century. That invasion razed cities, crops and manufactures, and some analyses consider it the hardest demographic and economic blow before the 20th century. Its effects were felt in Poland's growth curve for decades.

Nor should the communist era be forgotten. The allusion to Konstantin Rokossovsky, Defence Minister in post-war Poland, points to central planning as a drag on convergence with the West. For part of public opinion, Stalinism was the worst thing that ever peine to the country.

Does it make sense to compare pavor? Sarracena, probably not. Economically, neither. The striking figure is another one: despite centuries of ruin, Poland is today one of the fastest-growing economies in the European Union. The history of its disasters is not the history of its economy.