Student’s identification card

With the rebirth of Polish statehood, all secondary schools previously existing on Polish territory resumed their activities. The main centre of such schools was still in Lublin, where the following ones operated in 1918: Stanisław Staszic Male High School, Jan Zamoyski High School, Stefan Batory Male High School, Private Vetters High School, Wacława Arciszowa Female High School, Helena Czarniecka Female Philological High School, Sisters Ursuline High School, and Władysław Kunicki Female High School. Moreover, there were two high schools for Jewish youth – Sz. Szper Male High School and Sz. Szper Female High School.

In 1932, an education reform was carried out that merged primary and secondary schools. The primary school lasted seven years, but if a pupil wanted to continue his education, he/she could join a grammar school after just six years. Secondary school was now divided into a four-year gymnasium and a two-year high school, after which the student had to pass the Matura exam. Vocational education was incorporated into the school system, creating gymnasiums and secondary vocational schools. During the interwar period, there existed private schools apart from state education. However, private gymnasiums did not have the right to issue the state secondary school certificate, so an inspector from the school board was invited when examinations were held. National minorities, which constituted a significant part of the society of the Second Polish Republic, had their private education.

The Helena Czarniecka School was founded in 1904; initially, the language of instruction was Russian, but Polish was introduced the following year. From the beginning, it was located in the buildings at 13 Bernardyńska Street in Lublin. It became an eight-class humanistic secondary school in 1918 and after 1932 was replaced by a four-year general gymnasium and a two-year humanist secondary school. The activity of the school was interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1939.