Zakres i organizacja tajnego nauczania na Lubelszczyźnie podczas II wojny światowej

The Nazi’s discriminatory policy with regard to education and the lack of basic resources necessary for living made teachers organize clandestine teaching. At the beginning clandestine teaching had a spontaneous character, it was most often initiated by teachers and it lacked organization, i.e. the classes were conducted without any cooperation with the educational authorities, which were only starting to create the educational structure. The body which was responsible for creating the structure of clandestine education was the Polish Teachers’ Association. Creating the Department of Education and Culture of the National Branch of the Government of the Republic of Poland (DOiK), whose role was that of the Ministry of Education, was of great signifi cance for education. The creation and the activity of DOiK was to be a response to the liquidation by the Germans of Polish central and regional educational authorities. The underground activity was to counteract the policy of the Nazis towards education. The Management of the Department based their work on the activity of the organizational entities and members of the Clandestine Organisation of Teachers. Apart from qualified teachers, other professionals, such as: physicians, officers, lawyers, clerks, and also secondary school students of the higher grades, participated in clandestine teaching. The students conducted classes in the first grades of elementary schools. When the underground educational activity, in particular in connection with underground military activity, was spotted by the Nazis, the person involved was punished with imprisonment, sending to a concentration camp, and even death. Clandestine teaching was conducted on various levels and in various forms. In the article, the author attempts to present the forms and levels of clandestine teaching in the Lublin Region