Mgr. Arnošt Binter

* 1928

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I rode a unicycle with the PTP

Arnošt Binter, 1970s
Arnošt Binter, 1970s
photo: Witness's memory

Arnošt Binter was born in Bratislava on 22 July 1928 as the youngest son of Jan Binter and Marie Binterová (née Chadimová). The Binters had moved to Slovakia before the war; their father was a lawyer and worked as a notary in Slovakia for several years. They had to leave Slovakia and return to their native South Bohemia in 1938. Arnošt Binter experienced the air raids on České Budějovice in 1945. After the war the whole family joined Sokol. Arnošt Binter took part in the 11th Sokol Congress in Prague in 1948. His mother and especially his father were opposed to the newly established communist regime. After 1948, his father Jan Binter was sentenced to several years in a camp by the communist jurisdiction. Instead of studying in university, Arnošt Binter had to enlist when he received his draft order in 1949. Because of his cadre profile, he was assigned to the newly formed Auxiliary Technical Battalions (PTP). From his youth, he was a keen sportsman. He was on a cycling team from 1949 to 1951. He graduated from the Institute of Education and worked as a teacher of PE and Czech from the 1950s until retirement. In the 1960s he worked as a coach of the summer training of the České Budějovice hockey team Motor (then Slavoj). Together with the national hockey team he was able to travel to Western Europe in the 1960s. In the 1970s he worked for the Ski Association where he promoted the idea of compulsory ski courses integrated into physical education. This idea was developed methodologically and included into practical instruction. He never joined the Communist Party. After 1989, he became a chieftain in the restored Czech Sokol community and he became the head of the Sokol skiing committee in 1992. He lived in České Budějovice at the time of filming (2023).