{"id":7999,"date":"2026-06-19T14:41:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T12:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zks.waw.pl\/zks-warszawa-club\/history-of-zks-warsaw\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T15:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:06:47","slug":"history-of-zks-warsaw","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zks.waw.pl\/en\/zks-warszawa-club\/history-of-zks-warsaw\/","title":{"rendered":"History of ZKS Warsaw"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Taking advantage of the opportunities that emerged during the political \u201cthaw\u201d of 1956, a group of distinguished pre-war Warsaw shooting enthusiasts and activists, including Dr. Zbigniew Korolkiewicz, Wilhelm Auterhoff, Micha\u0142 Gola\u0144ski, Felicja Pazdejowa, W\u0142adys\u0142aw Pazdej, Roman Zieli\u0144ski, and other pre-war marksmen, founded in late 1956, based on the pre-war Law on Associations, the first and for many years the only independent shooting club in Poland, under the name ZKS Warszawa. The Club\u2019s name is not linked to trade unions. Instead, it refers to the unification within the Club of several shooting sections that had previously operated as part of various sports clubs located throughout Warsaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Club was registered by the court at the beginning of 1957 and initially had its headquarters on the premises of the present-day Sp\u00f3jnia Sports Club on Wybrze\u017ce Gdy\u0144skie. In 1967, the shooting range there was closed and the Club was assigned a new location on Marymoncka Street. The shooting range used until the 1970s was designed after the Olympic shooting range in Munich. Unfortunately, after a few years, development work was halted, mainly due to a lack of financial resources. Nevertheless, thanks to the perseverance of Club members and shooting enthusiasts, ZKS Warszawa survived those difficult years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Club emblem reflects the era in which its roots were established. At that time, there was widespread public fatigue with the excesses of Stalinist socialism and the so-called socialist realism. The Club\u2019s crest deliberately distanced itself from that symbolism by featuring the profile of the Warsaw Mermaid monument as it appeared before the war. It is worth noting that the emblem does not contain any shade of red that might have been associated with the political system in power at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first President elected was Dr. Zbigniew Korolkiewicz, a well-known hunting activist and officer of the September Campaign of 1939. He served as President of ZKS Warszawa until 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Presidents of ZKS Warszawa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Wilhelm Auterhoff 1977 – 1997<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Andrzej Chrzanowski 1997 \u20131999<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Zygmunt Trzebiatowski IV 2000 \u2013 IX 2000<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Tomasz Kostuch 2000 \u2013 2004<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Jan Staniszewski 2004 \u20132008<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Karol Lausz 2008 – 2009<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Micha\u0142 Maryniak 2009-2013<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Eugeniusz Bednarz 2013-2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Rados\u0142aw Morek since 2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Financing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
From the very beginning, the founders of the Club faced the important task of securing adequate funding. In the initial years of the Club\u2019s activities, its principal sponsor was the \u201cJedno\u015b\u0107 \u0141owiecka\u201d Hunting Cooperative. Later, modest government subsidies were provided to the Club through the Metalworkers\u2019 Trade Union and subsequently through the Trade Union of Employees of Commerce and Cooperatives. Our Club found itself in a far more difficult position than shooting sections operating within military and police clubs, which could draw support from the budgets of their parent institutions. Today, ZKS Warszawa is financed through membership fees and subsidies from the City of Warsaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sport<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The founders of the Club were experienced experts and enthusiasts of shooting sports. Many of them held referee licenses issued by the Polish Sport Shooting Federation (PZSS), and several were even national-level referees. Among the best-known officials at major shooting competitions in Poland were long-serving Chair of the PZSS Referees\u2019 College Stanis\u0142aw Proga, Felicja Pazdejowa, Teresa Nowak (Cywi\u0144ska), Lucyna Nitychoruk, Tadeusz Nitychoruk, Sylwester Cywi\u0144ski, and W\u0142adys\u0142aw Pazdej.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost from its inception, ZKS Warszawa aspired to establish a strong presence in competitive shooting, first in Warsaw, then throughout Poland, and eventually to gain recognition abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First members<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Club\u2019s first competitors were a large group of hunters practicing clay target shooting, specifically in the Olympic disciplines of trap and later skeet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These shooters came from sports clubs that had been dissolved, including Stal (W. Auterhoff, Z. Haron, L. Kalinowski, O. Korolkiewicz, J. \u0141opuszy\u0144ski, A. Szmur\u0142o, Z. Zakrzewski), Kolejarz (M. Fr\u0105czak), Budowlani \u0141\u00f3d\u017a (A. Smelczy\u0144ski), Lotnik (W. Wilson), and many others whose names, unfortunately, I no longer remember.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Some of them actively participated in the World War II and took part in the Warsaw Uprising. They formed a close-knit and determined group, displaying the same perseverance on the shooting range as in their private lives. Together, they built a shotgun shooting range in the Bielany district (on the grounds of what is now the Hutnik Sports Club), where they trained most frequently under the supervision of coach Dr. Zbigniew Korolkiewicz, who for many years also served as a coach of the Polish national shooting team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bielany range was also used by members of CWKS, including several renowned shooters: J. Kiszkurno, the individual World Champion of 1936; W. Ziegenhirte, who together with Kiszkurno won the Team World Championship in 1938; and R. Feil, as well as a number of relatively young officers of the Polish People’s Army. Among them was the son of the champion, Dr. Z. Kiszkurno, himself an Olympian, and, as people used to say at the time, General Staff Master of the Hunt M. Petelicki, father of Gen. S\u0142awomir Petelicki, the founder and first commander of GROM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We therefore had excellent role models. We could count on their support, engage in discussions with them, and observe shooters of world-class caliber at close range. (At that time, I was only just beginning my own shooting journey… with an air rifle.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Club continued to grow, attracting new competitors, including K. Fistek, W. Auterhoff, H. Osuchowski, Z. Fistek, P. Wa\u015blicki, L. Szlaps, J. Sikorski, T. \u0141\u0105cki, L. Lewartowski (from WKS Wawel Krak\u00f3w), St. Truszkowski, D. Truszkowska, Z. Lewartowski, O\u015bwiecimski, M. Zi\u00f3\u0142kowski, K. Lissowski, and J. P\u0105czkiewicz. Olgierd Korolkiewicz became the skeet coach, while Wilhelm Auterhoff took charge of trap shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
We also had two internationally certified referees, Zbigniew Korolkiewicz and Wilhelm Auterhoff, who served as officials at the most prestigious shooting competitions in Poland and internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our clay target shooters, in both the junior and senior categories, won championship titles at the Warsaw, Polish, European, and World levels, as well as Olympic gold medals, demonstrating the effectiveness and high standard of the Club\u2019s training program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an example, Dr. Adam Smelczy\u0144ski won the silver medal in trap shooting at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games (although by the time he earned this distinction, he was already representing CWKS). Olgierd Korolkiewicz became a World Team Champion in skeet, while both Olgierd Korolkiewicz and P. Wa\u015blicki won European Championship titles. Most of us, in turn, became champions of Poland and Warsaw, often on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We represented Poland at shooting competitions abroad as members of the national team. We maintained close and friendly interclub relations with teams from Ljubljana and later Ptuj in Slovenia, as well as with the Jagdgesellschaft of Heiligendamm, with whom we enjoyed our longest-lasting partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Some of our colleagues were awarded the title of \u201cDistinguished Master of Sport\u201d \u2014 an honor particularly esteemed during the era of state socialism. Others went on to serve as coaches of foreign national teams. One notable example was Olgierd Korolkiewicz, who coached the Italian national skeet team in Rome from 1966 to 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 1980s, due to the economic crisis, the activities of the shotgun section were limited to providing athletes with… essentially only the club membership necessary to enter competitions. The remaining costs were covered by the athletes themselves, including the purchase of ammunition. This did not discourage us, although only a small trap group remained. Skeet shooters moved to the then \u201cwealthy\u201d Legia club and, in truth, did not achieve spectacular success there. Trap shooting continued and even won medals at the Polish Championships in 1985 and 1986 (Wies\u0142aw Auterhoff).<\/p>\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
It must be said that we also received assistance from the Legia club, represented by, among others, the late Col. J. Kocan, and later Col. J. Sikora. After the closure of the Bielany shooting range, we trained in Rembert\u00f3w, and the costs we incurred were, by today\u2019s standards, symbolic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further deterioration of the situation and a lack of funds led, in the 1990s, to the sale of equipment, including firearms, in order to save the club and its grounds, today\u2019s shooting range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it succeeded – we have built new shooting ranges, we were rebuilding the club\u2019s assets, and new shooting sections were being established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, former shotgun shooters, only photographs remain\u2014images that allow us not to forget the emotions and impressions from those, unfortunately now distant, years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many facts have been forgotten; what remains are stacks of diplomas and trophies, from which, fortunately, certain details and dates can be reconstructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the colleagues described above, due to their age, no longer practice shooting sports, and some may perhaps be organizing or taking part in shooting \u201cgames\u201d at St. Peter\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, not all of them. Our colleague Hubert Osuchowski has currently been appointed by the District Board of the Polski Zwi\u0105zek \u0141owiecki as head of the Shooting Commission and, in a sense, manages the shooting range in Tarczyn, which we have been using more and more recently. The present-day senior, Stefan Truszkowski, still helps and provides advice in the development of our shooting range to this day. Maciej Fr\u0105czak, who now rarely leaves his home, is a well-known authority in Warsaw in the field of competitive ammunition handloading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compiled in 2009, possibly not without some errors,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wies\u0142aw Auterhoff member of the ZKS Warszawa Club since1958r <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pistol and rifle<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Chronologically, the first ZKS athlete was Wies\u0142aw Kwa\u015bniewski, who held club membership card No. 2. He shot rifles and hunting firearms, and at that time, still as a junior. At the same time, several senior shooters competed in the events of that period, including free small-bore rifle shooting at distances of 50 m and 100 m. Among them, the best results were achieved by Henryk Paw\u0142owski and Tomasz \u0141aszkiewicz. There was also a large group of pistol shooters competing in the precision 50 m pistol event, each of them being around 60 years old at the time. These included Kazimierz Giedroy\u0107, Micha\u0142 Gola\u0144ski, and W\u0142adys\u0142aw Pazdej. Despite their advanced age, they often competed on equal terms with rivals who were two or even three times younger. In 1964, Micha\u0142 Gola\u0144ski became the Vice-Champion of Poland among seniors at the Olympic shooting range in Wroc\u0142aw, in the Olympic event of 60 shots with the free pistol at 50 m. Shortly thereafter, the pistol team was joined by a group of younger athletes, including Tadeusz Nitychoruk, Andrzej Durski, and Zbigniew Zaleski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coaches and instructors of ZKS trained dozens of Polish champions and record holders, European and world championship medalists, as well as Olympians. At the Moscow Olympic Games, representing Poland, competed Piotr Kosmatko, who achieved 10th place in the 60-shot prone rifle event (Kdw 60 lying position). As an athlete of our club, he won medals at the Polish Championships and set a dozen or so national records. From 1974 to 1979 he worked as an instructor, and from 1980 to 1991 he served as a coach and head of training. His athletes included Renata Mauer-R\u00f3\u017ca\u0144ska, Jacek Sulerzycki, and many others. He is currently the coach of the Spanish national team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At ZKS Warszawa, Renata Mauer-R\u00f3\u017ca\u0144ska took her first steps in sport shooting. As a junior representing our club, she won both the Polish Junior Championship and the Senior Championship. She later moved to \u015al\u0105sk Wroc\u0142aw, where she went on to win two Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal, as well as two European Championship gold medals and two World Championship silver medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmong the medalists of the Polish Championships were often athletes of ZKS. A silver medal was awarded to Pawe\u0142 Drewniak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd sometimes the entire podium belonged to us. The medals in the standing rifle event were won by (from left): Wiktor Kobyli\u0144ski (ZKS), Grzegorz Sykurski (ZKS), and Janusz Kalmus (ZKS), alongside (slightly obscured) coach Anatoliusz Szewczuk, an initiator of shooting sports in Warsaw high schools.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWac\u0142aw Zaj\u0105c<\/strong> – senior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWila Linowska-Kobyli\u0144ska<\/strong> – junior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMa\u0142gorzata Dyszczyk (Klee)<\/strong> – junior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nZKS Warsaw team at the traditional friendly competition in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then Yugoslavia), October 1968. Seated: Tomasz Jakubczak, Marcin Pazdej, Krzysztof Brz\u00f3zka, W\u0142odzimierz Szczytowski. Standing: Jadwiga Kwa\u015bniewska, Wies\u0142aw Kwa\u015bniewski, Janusz Kalmus, Krystyna Malinowska, Wies\u0142aw Auterhoff, Wac\u0142aw Zaj\u0105c, Henryk Przybylski, Wilhelmina Kobyli\u0144ska, Wiktor Kobyli\u0144ski, Juliusz Lewartowski, Jolanta Linowska, Tadeusz Nitychoruk, Stanis\u0142aw Konieczny, Romuald Nowakowski, Antoni Ma\u0142ecki, Tomasz \u0141\u0105cki, Ma\u0142gorzata Pa\u0107ko-Jakubowska, Maciej Fr\u0105czak, Wies\u0142aw Kosieradzki.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBudapest, 1961. The Polish national anthem and the Polish flag were raised on the flagpole. It was the first team championship medal for Polish shooting sports.The Junior European Championship was won by Poland (Dariusz Grodzicki \u2013 Legia Warszawa, Wiktor Kobyli\u0144ski \u2013 ZKS, Janusz Kalmus \u2013 ZKS), ahead of the USSR and Romania.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Olympians:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Adam Smelczy\u0144ski<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Renata Mauer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Piotr Kosmatko<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
European Championship medalists:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The club is developing dynamically, among other reasons due to its good location. The ZKS shooting ranges are visited annually by several thousand enthusiasts of sport shooting. The competitive section trains young athletes who win competitions, including the Polish Championships. The general shooting section brings together several hundred members who achieve significant results in dozens of competitions each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the historical firearms enthusiasts\u2019 section is developing its promotional and educational activities. The youngest dynamic shooting section (IPSC\/IDPA) is also growing rapidly. With its own funds and with the support of the authorities of the Warsaw-Bielany district, new and safe facilities are being built. The investment programme has been planned for the next few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
The above text does not fully cover the over 50-year history of the Club. We therefore appeal to everyone who possesses photographic documentation or historical information to contact the ZKS office \u2013 the correspondence address is provided in the \u201cContact\u201d section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We would like to thank Mr. Wiktor Kobyli\u0144ski for his assistance and for providing photographs from his private collection.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compiled by: Tadeusz Bartosiak, March 2009.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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