Independent Students' Union - Banning and Re-establishment

Banning and Re-establishment

Polish students did not enjoy their freedom for long. Following the martial law in Poland, the Association was banned on February 5, 1981, and many of its activists were arrested. The NZS was still active in the underground, especially in larger centers, such as Warsaw, Wrocław and Kraków. Some of its members, such as Teodor Klincewicz from Warsaw, were actively involved in various forms of anti-government protests. Also, students of Law Department at Łódź University, in opposition to martial law, organized a sit-in, which was brutally broken by the riot police. Another strike was broken at Kraków's Pedagogical University. Some time in the mid-1980s, the Association began cooperation with high-school students organization Federation of Fighting Youth.

The NZS which in the years 1984 - 1985 was in the decline, began to flourish since 1986, when a new generation of students replaced the old one. Number of self-published magazines grew, new chapters were created, and finally, in September 1988, during the Third Meeting of NZS Delegates in Gdańsk, new leaders were elected. Soon afterwards, the Registration Committees were opened across the nation, and thousands of students joined the Association.

During the round table talks, it was agreed that the NZS would be re-registered, but the government did not keep this promise, which resulted in creation of National Student Strike Committee consisted of: Tomasz Ziemiński, Mariusz Kamiński, Przemysław Gosiewski, P. Nycz, W. Kiliński, Sławomir Skrzypek, R. Kosiorek, Grzegorz Schetyna, B. Pichur, Artur Olszewski, Igor Wójcik, P. Janiszewski, A. Jasionowski, K. Zemler, R. Bitner, A. Szczepkowski i P. Swaczyna. As Lech Kaczyński later recalled, the Communists did not want to give up their monopoly of youth organizations. Most Polish colleges began a sit-in, and in Kraków street fights erupted. During the historic semi-free June 1989 elections, the NZS actively helps Solidarity candidates.

The Association was re-legalized on September 22, 1989, when Poland was already ruled by the oppositional government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki. In the 1990s, NZS limited its political activities, concentrating on cultural events, as well as entertainment. Since 2008, its secretary has been Piotr Wiaderny from Bydgoszcz. Across the years, NZS total membership has been around 180 000. Several of its activists are now public figures - politicians, journalists, businessmen, artists. Among most prominent are Donald Tusk, Grzegorz Schetyna, Waldemar Pawlak, Cezary Grabarczyk, Bogdan Zdrojewski, Maciej Płażyński, Marek Jurek, Jan Maria Rokita, Maciej Kuron, Bronisław Wildstein, Marcin Meller, Paweł Piskorski, Adam Bielan.