Topics of coins
40th Anniversary of the Strike in the Higher School for Fire Service Officers
On the night of 24 to 25 November 1981,
the cadets of the then Higher School for
Fire Service Officers (WOSP) initiated a sit-in
strike. They did not agree to the provisions of
the planned amendment to the Higher Education
Act, which was to change the status of the school.
WOSP – so far civilian, though subordinate to
the Ministry of Internal Affairs – was to be
governed by the Military Higher Education Act.
That would open up the possibility of using its
cadets, for example, to quash social protests.
The sit-in was joined by over 90 percent of the
cadets and some WOSP employees. Initially,
the strikers attempted to hold talks with the
Joint Committee involving representatives of
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry
of Science, Higher Education and Technology,
and Fire Service Headquarters. However, after
20 hours of negotiations, the government broke
off the talks.
In the most difficult moments, the strikers drew
spiritual support from the pastoral service of
Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko. He would celebrate
Holy Masses which the strikers could attend and
he would hear their confessions.
On 30 November 1981, WOSP was dissolved by
the Council of Ministers. In spite of the information
about the dissolution of WOSP, the propaganda
campaign, and the pressure exerted by their
parents, the majority of the cadets continued the protest. The strike was crushed on 2 December 1981
by several thousand policemen (going under a typical
communist designation of Citizen’s Militia), the
Motorized Reserves of the Citizens’ Militia (ZOMO),
and soldiers of the Vistula Military Units of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs. The students and employees were
forcibly removed from the school. But the protest of
the cadets was by no means over. It only changed its
form to a ‘wandering’ sit-in. The strike of the young
fire officers continued until martial law was imposed.
Classes resumed at the beginning of February
1982 and since then the school has been called the
Main School of Fire Service (SGSP). Over 70 WOSP students were prevented from continuing
their education – they were not allowed to
complete their studies at any Polish institution
of higher learning. Many were persecuted.
A group of former WOSP employees was also
not employed at SGSP.
The reverse of the coin features a crowd
supporting the strikers – Warsaw residents,
parents, and delegates from higher learning
institutions and workplaces, all gathered in
front of the Higher School for Fire Service
Officers building.
Jakub Binio