Scout and Sokol Movement Resistance

Scouts

Thousands of members of Junák (a scouting organization), as well as left-wing and Catholic scouting organizations, joined the anti-occupation movement. Illegal organisations of Polish Scouts, the so-called "Harcers", were also active in the Těšín region. One of the most active groups was the Silesian Junák Resistance. The organization was disbanded by the Gestapo in April 1945 and eight of its members were executed in Těšín. A number of scouts from Silesia and North Moravia also fought in the foreign army, for example František Ryš, who died as a member of the S-1 airdrop.

The Sokol Movement

The occupation regime banned the Sokol Movement in 1940. At that time, the illegal organization "Obec sokolská v odboji (Sokol Community in Resistance)" was already active. During the occupation, 2,176 Sokol Movement members died, 1,212 of them on the execution grounds and 654 in the May Uprising. Many Sokol members also served in foreign armies.

Correspondence played an important role in the lives of concentration camp prisoners – it was a link to home and a confirmation for the prisoner that the family was doing well. Whether the prisoners were allowed to receive and write letters varied according to the type of camp in which they were placed. Letters were subject to strict censorship, so they had to be written in German and were not allowed to describe the life in the camp. The ban on writing letters was a frequent punishment for the prisoners. In some camps, the prisoners could even receive a parcel or a small sum of money.