‘Youth Party Helpers’. Organization and Activity of the Academic Union of Polish Youth and the Union of Polish Youth at the University of Physical Education in Warsaw in the Years 1948–1956

Abstract

The article presents the organizational structures and personal composition of the boards of youth political and social organizations established at the University of Physical Education (AWF) named after General Karol Świerczewski (currently named after Józef Piłsudski) in Warsaw: the Academic Union of Polish Youth (1948–1950) and the Union of Polish Youth (1948–1956). To the extent dependent on the preserved source base, the organization and activity of the above organizations and the scope of tasks imposed on AWF students by party bodies, both in the sphere of sports activity, social activities, and ideological training, have been presented. The Academic Union of Polish Youth at the AWF in Warsaw was established in October 1948 and operated until October 1950, when the Union of Polish Youth was established on its basis. The management of both organizations, implementing the guidelines of the party leadership, mobilized the academic youth to participate in mass events, political actions and social work, striving to educate in the spirit of socialist “values” and subordination to state authority. The Academic Union of Polish Youth, and later the Union of Polish Youth, was a common organization among students of the Warsaw AWF. This resulted both from the need to adapt to the realities of political reality, implemented by the party leadership of the university, but also from the benefits and privileges for its members. For committed students, membership facilitated and accelerated the path of a professional career at their alma mater or in offices related to physical culture.