Vilém Vlk

* 1927

Journalist, Boy Scouts, Sokol

1944 - 1945 - The liberation of Czechoslovakia, 1945 - 1948 - First renewal of Junák

1

Přehrát

Pozastavit

An encounter with the poet Petr Bezruč
(video)

duration: 00:54

Download file

Info

“I was holding patrol in the evening in Prague. That of course meant to remain completely silent. At about six o’clock in the evening, an elderly man came to me and said: ‘aren’t you cold my lad?’ I remained silent. He tried it again: ‘you don’t speak? How’s that possible? You have to stay here?’ I didn’t say a word. He reached into his pocket and held a one-Koruna coin in his hand. ‘Take it. It’s for you. It’s a rather precious one’. So I took it and went away. From a distance, Arnošt Kubínský was watching and he then told me that my reaction was good. He said: ‘Do you know who that man was? It was Petr Bezruč, the poet!’”
2

Přehrát

Pozastavit

His brotehr Karel would take food for the guerillas to Chladná Voda
(audio)

duration: 00:37

Download file

Info

“We almost starved to death during the war. My mother, a widow, made a living by sewing. She had to feed four kids and her own mother. My brother would go to Chladná voda on Saturday nights with a back pack, carrying potatoes and bread for the guerillas who’d take it during the night. So we were starving and our Scouts – my oldest brother with some of his friends, with Vašíček and also with Lichnovský. They were really brave boys.”
3

Přehrát

Pozastavit

The 1935 Bezruč's region exhibition and the Scouts
(audio)

duration: 00:18

Download file

Info

“We had an improvised Scout camp on the fringe of the park, where the post office in Místek (Frýdek, note by the author) is. We pitched our tents there. The elder Rovers even had their tree house in the tree tops there.”
Full recordings
1

Palkovice, 06.06.2012
(audio)

duration: 03:35:43

media recorded in project A Century of Boy Scouts

Download file

Info

Full recordings are available only for logged users.

In 1935, when I was a cub scout, I met the poet Petr Bezruč

Vilém Vlk-Mowghli as a pre-war cub Scout

photo: skautské fotoalbum Viléma Vlka

Vilém Vlk - Mowgli by his scout nickname - was born on March 1, 1927, in the family of a technical clerk/drawer. He spent his childhood in Karlova Huť, where his family lived in a workers’ colony. His father died in 1933. In November 1934, Vilém Vlk joined the 1st Scout troop Karlova Huť and later, during the war, he was a member of the 1st cub scouts wolf pack Karlova Huť. In the course of the war, his brother was involved in smuggling food for the partisans in Chladná Voda. Up to 1941, he attended a grammar school in Místek, after its closure, he went to study at a weaving school in Prostějov. During the war, he was assigned to forced labor in the area of Frýdek Místek. After the war, Vilém Vlk became the leader of the 20th wolf pack Karlova Huť and he also passed the leadership exams. Later, he even became the leader of the local Scout center. While in the compulsory military service, he was selected for studies at an officer academy in Hodonín, from which, however, he was soon dismissed for his Scout convictions. In 1951, he began to work in the Slezan company and in 1952 he married. Together with his wife Zdeňka, they raised two daughters. Vilém Vlk is still actively engaged in a number of associations, for instance in the movie amateurs’ club. He also participates in the publishing of brochures in the editions of the Beskydy and Bezruč monographs.

Vilém Vlk

* 1927

Palkovice, 06.06.2012