The Federation of Fighting Youth ( pl, Federacja Młodzieży Walczącej, also called FMW) was a radical anticommunist organization of Polish youth, existing in the mid and late 1980s. It was founded in June 1984 in

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 officia ...

's district of

Grochów Grochów is a district of Warsaw, officially part of the borough of Praga-Południe although not connected at all to the historical "Praga" district. It is one of the most notable residential areas of right-bank Warsaw. There are many blocks of ...

by a group of high school students. In September 1984, a "Riot" (''Bunt'') underground publication informed about creation of the Federation, it also featured an appeal to Polish youth. The Federation's activists published their own magazine, called ''Information Service of the FMW'' (''Serwis Informacyjny FMW''). It was printed in the format of a

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

, in the period November 1984 - May 1985. In October 1984, high school students in Gdańsk founded their own branch of the Federation, and began publishing their own biweekly '' Monit''. In October 1985, a group of activists of the FMW decided to create the so-called ''Activity Groups'' (''Grupy Wykonawcze''), which began to actively fight the Communist system, by painting slogans on walls, distributing leaflets, and persecuting members of Communist apparatus of repression. The FMW gathered not only high school students, but also college students, as well as laborers. At the beginning of 1985, the Federation got its own printing press, and quickly established itself in numerous Polish towns and cities. Altogether, it had around 1,000 members, and was regarded as an open platform for those who wished for a free and democratic Poland. The FMW organized underground lectures, and distributed underground press among Polish youth. It collected money for incarcerated members of opposition, also helped families whose members were in prisons. It closely cooperated with such organizations, as

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 ...

, Solidarity,

Fighting Solidarity Fighting Solidarity ( pl, Solidarność Walcząca) was a Polish anti-Soviet and anti-communist underground organization, founded in June 1982

, and

Solidarity Citizens' Committee The Solidarity Citizens' Committee (''Komitet Obywatelski "Solidarność"'', KO "S"), also known as Citizens' Electoral Committee (''Obywatelski Komitet Wyborczy'') and previously named the Citizens' Committee with Lech Wałęsa (''Komitet Obywate ...

. In the 1980s, the FMW was under surveillance of the Communist secret services. Among its major centers were Kraków, Gdansk, Warsaw, and Lodz, and FMW's members were famous for their anticommunist radicalism. The Federation ceased to exist in 1989.

Most famous activists

* Tomasz Arabski, later director of prime minister

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

's office, *

Sławomir Cenckiewicz Sławomir Cenckiewicz (born 20 July 1971) is a Polish historian and journalist. Life A former employee of the Institute of National Remembrance, since 2016 Cenckiewicz is president of the Polish Army's History Office. He gained much media attent ...

, now a professional historian, * Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, later deputy minister of justice, *

Bogdan Rymanowski Bogdan or Bohdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in all Slavic countries as well as Romania and Moldova. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog/Boh'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning "god", and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...

, now a journalist of

TVN 24 TVN24 is a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 has been owned since July 2017 by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery. It gained broader popularity after the Septe ...

Sources

Artykul

Most famous activists

Sources

See also