Yet, under the first occupation by the Russians (from 1772 to 1918 -- and from 1793 to 1918 poland was wiped off the map, torn into 3 parts by Russia, Prussia and Austria and the partitioning powers had a pact to not even mention the name of Poland) -- during that first occupation, they had 5 uprisings in which Poles, Jews, Lithuanians and Ruthenians participated to recreate the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth -- they were not part of any "freedom crushing state"
Under the second Russian, Soviet occupation, communism never sat well on Poland -- Stalin famously said that "communism in Poland is like putting a saddle on a cow" -- it barely worked and this was because the Soviets didn't try to collectivize the farms (as they did in the USSR and Czechia etc.) and allowed some private businesses after Stalin died
The communist government there did join the rest of the USSR's satellites in crushing the Hungarian spring in '56, but the communists had no real support -- trying to implement an atheistic and globalistic ideology on the Poles who had been denied statehood for 150 years was impossible
I suppose it is hard sometimes to distinguish between the actions of the state of Poland and its people. For instance under the Soviet umbrella, Poland, in the UN assembly usually opposed measures by the US and Israel.
And now Poland is a staunch US ally. It makes you wonder what changed?