Scouts or pioneers, what mattered was working with children
Vlasta Vasková, née Kebrlová, was born on December 6, 1954, in Rokycany. She lived with her parents in Hrádek u Rokycan. Her mother was a clerk, her father a labourer. Both of her parents worked with other people, they were members of the Boy Scout organisation in their youth. In 1961, she became a member of the Pioneer movement. She was at the summer camp when the Soviet army invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Her father left the Communist Party in a protest gesture, her mother was not a member. In spring 1969 children in Hrádek were approached by a group of adults whom Vlasta Vasková knew well to establish a Boy Scout organisation. Vlasta became a member but the organisation lasted only shortly, as it was banned in 1970. They had to choose whether to disband completely or to merge with the Pioneer organisation. The leaders, driven by their desire to work with children, opted for continuing existence under the Pioneer banner. In 1974, Vlasta completed her secondary education and then was employed as Pioneer leader. She tried to avoid ideological pressure. After the political change in 1989 her position was no longer a paid one, so she transferred to the position of the school cafeteria manager. The Pioneer organisation still exists even today, in the 1990s it existed alongside a Boy Scout organisation. Vlasta’s husband is engaged in the local Pioneer organisation, as are their two daughters and their husbands. In 2017, Vlasta Vasková still lived in Hrádek u Rokycan.
