Anyway I wouldn't trade a 'benevolent socialist system' (somehow Polish case) for a 'benevolent fascist system' (somehow Portuguese case). Average life standard

Anyway I wouldn't trade a 'benevolent socialist system' (somehow Polish case) for a 'benevolent fascist system' (somehow Portuguese case). Average life standards in Portugal were light-years distance from Polish ones. Ex: While living in Poland, once I commented to a friend that my grandparents could barely read and one grandmother couldn't read at all. He thought I was joking. Or another example: my grandfather got his first shoes when he went to military service. These situations were unthinkable in Poland during communist times. In Poland at the same time lots of people were having university education and most people from lower classes were having holidays.