I don't know much about others, but perhaps you should be comparing ratio of GDP in the last 20 years, not absolute values. With Poland coming very poor out of communism and all.
It takes time to create an economy. Even with consistent 5% yoy growth that's a few decades to catch up when you're starting with a few times less GDP per capita.
That's long enough for everyone aged about 50 in 1989 to have aged out of the system.
How many decades should pass before we stop blaming present circumstances on the past?