Silesian Centre for Freedom and Solidarity

In the Brynów district of Katowice stands the red-brick former clothing store of the Wujek coal mine. On 16 December 1981, three days after martial law was declared in communist Poland, a special riot-police (ZOMO) platoon fired on striking miners from its loading ramp. Today the building houses the Silesian Centre for Freedom and Solidarity, named after the Nine Miners of Wujek – a museum in which that very ramp is an exhibit, and where some tours are led by men who stood in the mine yard that day.

History: the nine of Wujek

The strike began on 13 December 1981, when the miners learned that Jan Ludwiczak, head of the mine's Solidarity union branch, had been arrested overnight. Three days later the mine was surrounded by a force unmatched anywhere else in the region: according to figures cited in the historical literature, over 1,400 police and ZOMO officers, 760 soldiers, 22 tanks and 44 infantry fighting vehicles. A tank breached the wall next to the railway gate, and in the clashes that followed the special platoon opened fire.

Nine miners were killed and 23 wounded. Poland's Institute of National Remembrance calls it the bloodiest crackdown of the martial-law period. The trials dragged on for years: only in 2007 did a court find members of the special platoon guilty, and the verdict became final in 2008.

What to see

The permanent exhibition opened in 2021, on the 40th anniversary of the crackdown. The earlier display covered about 140 m²; the current one fills more than 1,100 m² over three levels of the historic building:

• level -1 – post-war Europe, the Eastern Bloc and the birth of Solidarity,
• level 0 – the day of the crackdown: the preserved ramp from which the shots were fired, and a T-55 tank, lent by the Ministry of Defence and restored to its December 1981 appearance,
• level +1 – the 1980s, civil resistance, the role of the Church, the Round Table talks and the 1989 elections.

The brick façade has also been reconstructed. Next to the museum stands the cross monument to the Nine Miners, consecrated and unveiled on 15 December 1991 and cared for by the Centre. The main anniversary ceremony is held here every December.

Did you know?

• The Centre is a cultural institution of the Silesian regional government, co-run by the city of Katowice; the agreement was signed, symbolically, on 16 December 2011.
• Director Kazimierz Kutz based his 1994 film "Death Like a Slice of Bread" on the events at Wujek.
• The Centre organises the Independence Run in memory of the nine miners and publishes the twice-yearly bulletin "Głos".

Tripto tip

• Opening hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00–18:00, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9:00–16:00; closed Sunday and Monday.
• Tickets (2026 price list): standard PLN 15, reduced PLN 10, family PLN 36. A guided tour costs an extra PLN 40, a tour with a witness to history PLN 60 per group. Strike participants and people persecuted under communism enter free.
• Booking: tel. +48 32 438 79 66, rezerwacje@scwis.pl. Ask about a tour with a strike veteran – these run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and the first Saturday of the month.
• Time needed: allow 1.5–2 hours for the exhibition; a guided visit usually takes longer.
• Address: ul. Wincentego Pola 38, Katowice-Brynów; the cross monument stands right next to the museum, so you can see both in one visit.