It was an excellent lesson. Everyone found out exactly who everyone really was.
When the masks went on, the masks came off. And I for one cannot unsee what I saw.
When things get seriously authoritarian, which they will, you can be 100% assured that the same people will behave exactly the same as they did during covid.
Your next-door neighbor will be your worst enemy even as they smile and make small talk.
There is a Polish cultural thing where you do not smile in public. Because it will tell others that you have something to smile about. Something they do not have. And if they do not have it, then you shouldn't have it either. Smiling in public is asking for trouble.
Make no mistake. The people who live around you will rat you out for anything and everything if they think for a second it might in some way profit them. Even if it's for a dopamine hit and a feeling of power.