When COVID-19 hit, long lines formed outside shops selling gold in Poland. Then came Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering another rush for gold.

Piotr Kozik, the manager of a Warsaw shop selling gold bars and coins produced by the Mint of Poland, remembers how the day of Russia's invasion, Feb. 24, 2022, was Fat Thursday, when Poles gorge themselves on paczki, jam-filled donuts.