“I can tell you it was just beautiful at the site of our third camp. The camp was located nearby a forest and you had to walk across the entire town to get there. There was a creek by the camping place for washing. There was hardly any hygiene. But we would line up – first girls, then boys – and march across the little town all the way to the kitchen where there was a tiny house. Nice and friendly moms were cooking for us there and we ate at the tables and then walked back to the camp. On the way back, we were singing songs. It was impossible not to sing.” Interviewer: What were you singing?” “Do you know ‘my loved one went mushroom-picking’? (Singing) My loved one went mushroom-picking/ she will get lost there, she’ll get lost there/ no she won’t, don’t be afraid/ she’ll come back with the mushrooms/ she’ll bring them back and fry them/ my heard will be pleased, pleased. I think that’s the end. Or another one. Two blacksmiths in the town of Kolín. Kolíne, Kolíne. Anyone you could march to. And then there were Scout songs.” Interviewer: “How many of you were there in the procession?” “Well, at least twenty girls for sure.”
“What really drove me mad? Well, at the Bracknelly castle, I had to roll miniature butterballs for the countess. I was supposed to do the dishwashing but the kitchen sink was so greasy you could use a spoon to clean it up. I had an aversion against the countess. I thought to myself that she was of a different sort than us. We don’t have butterballs either. You could ask why we would come there. To pay for our stay there. To have some food.” Interviewer: “So you didn’t pay anything for the camp but you had to work at the castle for being allowed to camp nearby.”
We did not pay anything for the camps, instead we paid with our own work.
Milada Červená was born on September 13, 1931, in Polička in a farmer’s family. She became a member of the Scout right after the war. In 1945, she joined the 1st Scout unit in Policka and belonged to the Water Lily Trioop. She had the best years of her life during her time as a Scout during the war, and she loves to remember those times.
