Vladimír Hrbek

"There were trials for beginners, the first level and the second level. There was a brochure where the tasks for passing the beginner's test were outlined. Those who did not passed them were not allowed to take the oath. At first we had to complete all the tasks which were required for passing the first level. If we passed the first level, only then could we go on, for example to the Three Eagle Feathers." – "You have gotten the Three Eagle Feathers?" – "Yes, I have them." – "And what was the oath ceremony in your troop like?" – "It was always a festive occasion. It took place at the end of the camp. There were the fire guardians, a ceremonial roll-call, the scout uniform, flags, patrol flags, and guests. The guests were usually parents, some older scouts who arrived, or villagers whom we had invited. They like to come because we helped them in the fields during harvest time, and so on. For us boys, the Three Eagle Feathers was the ultimate achievement."

"With the boys we used a kayak to paddle down the Dyje River. One day it took some of them a long time, and we were waiting for them to bring water. Eventually they did bring water with them. When we had our soup at noon, we found that there were tadpoles swimming in it. We found out that the boys had taken the water from the river, and we had used it to cook soup for lunch." – "And did the soup taste good?" – "It was good."

"One more thing I remember was our first camp in 1946. We were camping in a place which was very close to the Austrian border and members of Bandera's bands were roaming there freely. We had our camp in that place and we could hear shooting at nights.” – “You weren’t afraid, grandpa?” – “I don’t know whether I was afraid or not. But I have to say that we were not really afraid, because children were sort of tougher then. Those of us who were twelve or thirteen…For us, it would be shameful to show fear."

"The principles remained ingrained in us. Relation to nature, to animals, friendship, the right conduct in the forest and attitude to one another. Then the skills we had learnt – starting a fire, cleaning up, outdoor trips, observing the nature at night… This has remained in us and we made use of it. Is there anything better than to sit around the fire with three, four, five or ten friends, who have an understanding of each other and talk and sing together? This is the friendship and the fraternal relationship which is one of the fundaments of scouting."