Zbigniew Wilk was born on July 22, 1951, in Dzierdziówka, to Władysław and Stanisława Wilk. He had three siblings: Jan, Ewa, and Magdalena. He graduated from primary school in Zbydniów and from a Mining Vocational School in Katowice. In 1971, he completed the Mining Technical School of the Ministry of Mining and Energy named after the Silesian Insurgents in Katowice, obtaining the qualification of a mining technician in the field of technical exploitation of mineral deposits.
From 1972 to 1979, he was a player for the football team of KS Rozwój Katowice, affiliated with KWK Wujek. Between July 1, 1971, and December 31, 1973, he worked as a miner at the Wujek mine, then briefly transferred to KWK “Śląsk" (January 1 – February 11, 1974), before returning to Wujek on February 12, 1974. Surviving records do not confirm whether he was a member of NSZZ Solidarność, established in September 1980.
On December 16, 1981, he took part in the strike at KWK “Wujek." During the pacification of the mine by militia and military forces, he was shot twice and died on the spot. The autopsy conducted in December 1981 showed that he sustained two gunshot wounds in the sacral-lumbar region. The direct cause of death was a gunshot wound to the abdomen resulting in massive hemorrhage. The shots were fired from a distance.
He left behind his wife, Elżbieta (née Kulczyk), and two children: Magdalena (born 1976) and Marcin (born 1978). His funeral took place on the morning of December 21, 1981, in the Piotrowice district of Katowice and was closely monitored by officers of the militia, security service, and ZOMO.
On August 29, 1990, he was posthumously awarded the Gold Cross of Merit with Swords by the President of the Republic of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski. On December 7, 1992, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the President of Poland, Lech Wałęsa. In 2015, he was also posthumously awarded the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity.
He is commemorated, together with the other miners killed on December 16, 1981, by the Monument to the Fallen Miners of “Wujek" (1991).
