Why are young Eastern European Democracies struggling to establish a free market system?

The Second War brought complete destruction to that region. Entire cities were leveled by the germans and russians ... If you go to Poland today, for example, what you see in Warsaw and Gdansk are copies. The "medieval" buildings are all or mostly reconstructions, from the rubble left behind by German and Soviet bombs and artillery. After that, the communists imposed central planning on top of a destroyed economic base. It's very hard to regenerate money from nothing, and most of what is produced in eastern Europe went into Warsaw Pact defenses and salaries and privileges for the communist party elite, to keep the system of authority in place. After the fall of communism, the post-Cold War governments inherited another kind of economic decay. They instituted "reform" plams to shock the economies into the free market, leaving in their wake massive unemployment and property.