under Communism the Poles hated the West and never had a single good word to say for them
Sure that the Polish government under communist times spread anti-west propaganda .... but this was not the view held by the person on the street!
In fact it was quite the opposite .... communication with the West was very limited, but most Poles aspired to the Western way of living.
The opinion that everything in the west is better than in Poland is still held by many Poles .... I believe wrongly; it's the old "grass is greener" syndrome !
Poles and Poland, I believe have a lot to be proud of .... there are many positive things happening in Poland, and I believe in majority of cases it is heading in the right direction.
Poland should also try to maintain it's cultural identity and not become a clone of the West.