Vladimír Cabalka

* 1939

  • “I would like to know how you were able to cover your scouting during the camps?” – “We were a part of the Union for Nature Conservation. As for camping, we were therefore free to do whatever we wanted. When boys were taking the Scout promise, we would find some place by a rock and build a smaller pagoda fireplace, so that the blaze of the fire wouldn’t go over the trees. The boys would then recite the oath, while touching a flag, which had been stained with blood of people who were shot to death by the Russians in 1968. That flag is a symbol of our group and all take their scouting oath by it.”

  • “Under the communist regime, all of us lived as they could and tried to avoid conflict with the law, and it was hard. Whenever something was happening, we would wear a fleur de lis badge on our lapels as a provocation. We wanted to provoke them, because we were angry that we couldn’t work on our activities properly.”

  • “What would you do if you had a chance to use a gun in a situation when somebody else is pointing at you with a gun? Would you just let that person shoot you?” – “I would probably defend myself.” – “And you would be quick to press the trigger!” – “Of course.” – “Well, that’s it! That’s the heart of the matter.”

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    Polička, 04.10.2011

    (audio)
    délka: 57:46
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu A Century of Boy Scouts
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The message of Baden Powell applies to all

Vladimír Cabalka
Vladimír Cabalka
zdroj: Pamět národa - Archiv

  Vladimír Cabalka, nicknamed Ballů, was born July 4, 1939. Right after the war, in 1946, he became a member of the restored Boy Scout troop in Prague-Hrdlořezy. The troop members later moved to the 1st Prague Port Šipka in Malá Strana, where they were in hiding after their activities became banned. The Mašín brothers and Milan Paumer were also members of the same troop. In 1968 Cabalka played an active role in the revival of the local Boy Scout movement. Between 1968 and 1972 he was one of the leaders of four summer camps held near Sokolov, and in 1973 he participated in the camp as a guest. The Boy Scout troop subsequently functioned as a section of the Union for Nature Conservation. After 1990 Cabalka was one of the leaders of the camp in Borová Lada. Ballů remains an active scout official and oldscout. He is now a member of the 53rd Boy Scout Group of the Mašín Brothers in Prague 9, whose original name was Atahokan. One of the group‘s members was Milan Paumer, and Ctirad and Josef Mašíns became its honorary members.