Ośrodek tajnego nauczania przy Państwowym Gimnazjum i Liceum im. Unii Lubelskiej w Lublinie

The article describes the activity of one of the three main underground education centres at the level of general secondary school operating in Lublin from 1939 to 1944. The functioning of the centre is shown taking account of the elements of educational policy and the realities of the local occupation situation. The text attempts to comprehensively describe the issue of secret teaching conducted in the discussed environment, which has so far been presented mainly in publications dealing with the participation of teachers in the underground education movement in the Lublin region or in memoirs. The article discusses the circumstances in which the underground education centre was established, the conditions under which it functioned, the participation of teachers and students in conspiratorial educational work, the didactic methods applied and the outcome of students’ involvement in secret teaching. The results of the quantitative balance have been obtained based on the analysis of various statistical data, including previously unknown materials stored in the Central Archives of Modern Records. To make a full picture of the activities of the ‘Union’ Centre, archival materials have also been used from the resources of the State Archives in Lublin, the Archives of the 3rd Union of Lublin Secondary School in Lublin, handwritten materials from the resources of Lublin libraries as well as published reports and memories of former teachers and students of the school. By compiling data from source materials and thematic publications, a list of 36 underground teachers cooperating with the ‘Union’ Centre has been made.