The Student Committee of Solidarity ( pl, Studencki Komitet Solidarności (SKS)) was a student group created in Kraków in 1977 whose purpose was opposition to the Communist government in Poland.Michael H. Bernhard, "The origins of democratization in Poland: workers, intellectuals, and oppositional politics, 1976-1980", Columbia University Press, 1993, pg. 143

/ref> The committee was formed in the aftermath of the murder of

Stanisław Pyjas Stanisław Włodzimierz Pyjas (1953–1977) was a Polish student of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, member of the anticommunist student movements. He died on May 7, 1977 in Kraków. The exact circumstances of Pyjas’ death are still a ...

, a student activist, probably killed by members of the communist Secret Services.*Studenckie Komitety Solidarności
/ref>Jarosław Szarek, OBEP Kraków, IPN, Studencki Komitet Solidarności (SKS) – 30. rocznica powstania (Student Committee of Solidarity (SKS) - Thirtieth anniversary

/ref> The funeral of Pyjas turned into a student demonstration in the streets of Kraków (later called the "Black Marching, Procession"), the largest of its kind in Kraków since the March events of 1968. In the autumn of 1977 similar committees formed in other cities;

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...

, as well in

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

in 1978. The student organizations were generally associated with the Komitet Obrony Robotnikóws (KOR) and carried out their activities mostly, but not exclusively, in academic settings. Where it proved possible, students associated with the committees also supported workers' organizations. The committees printed underground newspapers, organized petitions regarding living standards in student housing and demanded the replacement of communist controlled student groups by independent ones. Another purpose of the committees was to report on the kind of abuses by the communist Secret Services that had led to Pyjas' murder. In a more or less spontaneous ways, the Student Committees of Solidarity led to formation of

Independent Students Union Independent Students' Association ( pl, Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów, NZS) is a Polish student society, created in October 1980, in the aftermath of the Gdańsk Agreement and the anti-government strike actions (see: History of Solidarity). It ...

s, particularly by 1980. Many activists of the committees later, after

fall of communism in Poland Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sout ...

, became well known public figures, among others; Bronisław Wildstein,

Bogusław Sonik Bogusław Andrzej Sonik (born 3 December 1953 in Kraków) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship with the Civic Platform, part of the European People's P ...

, Liliana Batko-Sonik, Lesław Maleszka,

Róża Thun Róża Maria Thun (Róża Maria Barbara Fürstin von Thun und Hohenstein, ''née'' Woźniakowska, born 13 April 1954), is a Polish politician, more usually known as Róża Thun than by her formal style of Countess and from 1990 her style changed t ...

Ludwik Dorn Ludwik Stanisław Dorn (, 5 June 1954 – 7 April 2022) was a Polish conservative politician, who served as Deputy Prime Minister and member of Sejm elected on 5 November 2007. Biography Dorn was born Ludwik Dornbaum, to Polish-Jewish parents ...

, Magdalena Modzelewska, Elżbieta Majewska, and Jacek RakowieckiStowarzyszenie Maj '77, "Rzecznicy SKS'u"
/ref>

References

External links

*Collection of photographs from an exposition on the 30th anniversary of formation of organizatio

1977 establishments in Poland Student societies in Poland {{Youth-org-stub