45th anniversary of the registration of the Independent Students’ Association (NZS)
In communist Poland, the Independent Students’ Association (NZS) fought for Poland’s independence, the respect of civil rights, organised student strikes, rallies, and meetings, and served as a censorship-free space for exchanging ideas. Since 1989, it has supported the student community and worked to defend its interests. Today (20 February) in Toruń, the 45th anniversary of the NZS registration is being celebrated.
“Today, we remember all those involved in underground publishing activities, the thousands of anonymous participants in the fight for the autonomy of Polish higher education, and the student strikes at all universities in what is today the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. After 1989, it was these people who helped build a free Poland,” said Marshal Piotr Całbecki.
The 45th anniversary celebrations are taking place in front of the Marshal’s Office and the Kopernikańska Library.
A symbolic bouquet will be laid under the plaque embedded ten years ago in the façade of the Marshal’s Office commemorating the student strike of 1981.
In the square in front of the office, an exhibition about NZS prepared by the Bydgoszcz branch of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) will be opened. Twenty panels display archival photos, documents, and detailed information about the founding and activities of NZS in the 1980s.
At the Kopernikańska Library, Dr. habil. Przemysław Olstowski will give a lecture on the activities of NZS at Nicolaus Copernicus University. The event will also feature an exhibition of publications and artefacts related to the Independent Students’ Association.
NZS was established in September 1980 following the August workers’ strikes. It united young people who wanted a student organisation independent of state authorities. At Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, it was founded on 17 September 1980; at the then Technical-Agricultural Academy in Bydgoszcz on 16 October 1980. Independent student movements were also created at the Higher School of Pedagogy, the State Higher School of Music in Bydgoszcz, and the Bydgoszcz branch of the Medical Academy in Gdańsk.
For several years, room 208 in the Marshal’s Office has been named after the late General Zbigniew Nowek, who passed away in 2019. He was the first chairman of NZS at Nicolaus Copernicus University, co-organiser of the student strike in February 1981, and a co-creator of the Polish special services after 1990. General Nowek was active in commemorating events linked to the democratic opposition and served on the Chapter of the Marshal’s Medal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Unitas Durat Palatinatus Cuiaviano-Pomeraniensis. He himself was also honoured with this distinction in recognition of his contributions to the fight for the independence of the Republic of Poland and human rights.
Beata Krzemińska
Press Spokesperson, Marshal’s Office
20 February 2026