Jiří Švec

* 1929  †︎ 2009

  • “So when the end of the war was approaching, we didn't have any more folk costumes to wear, there was no fabric for it. But we already had red-white badges ready. So we used to stitch together various pieces of cloth and painted Scout symbols such as lilies on the dresses. So on the last day of war, which was on May 9 here in Hlinsko, we'd run around town with the badges among the thousands of Germans who still were here.”

  • “They were interrogating me and they searched the house. But for one they didn't recalled the reservation and the second thing was that Standa wasn't there any longer. It was complicated to establish the connection but I managed to do so with the help of my wife – at that time we weren't married yet. I wasn't sure if they're not watching me and so I was sending her to the post office. And then, when one of my friends came to visit him, I sent a colleague to the railway station.”

  • “These boys were just about to quit school. Especially the younger one, he got a really bad screening assessment by some old woman who was his neighbor. That was common at the time, to have your house principals write these assessments. The second guy who was supposed to be drafted to the army go an even worse one. It was so bad the screening center officer brought it to me and said that we had to change it as it was too negative. So me and that officer redrafted the assessment to make it more acceptable.”

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Hlinsko, 27.12.2008

    (audio)
    délka: 01:31:09
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu A Century of Boy Scouts
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

When I appeared in the folk costume in the factory, it resulted in great upheaval

Jiří Švec (Summer camp at Česká Cikánka in 1969)
Jiří Švec (Summer camp at Česká Cikánka in 1969)
zdroj: Archiv Jiřího Švece

  Brother Jiří Švec was born in August 23, 1929. According to his words, he originated in a very poor family. Until he was nine years old, he lived on the very periphery of the city of Hlinsko. Only after his family moved closer to the city center, he learned about the existence of the Scout and became a member of the cub Scouts in Hlinsko. His troop was led by the teacher and poet Stanislav Zedníček. Jiří Švec later worked in the textile industry which has a very long tradition in Hlinsko. He was the chief planning officer in the Kara factory. In his youth, he was a member of the social democracy. In the Scout hierarchy, he held various positions, ranging from the deputy troop leader to the deputy president of the district council of the Scout. For his selfless and relentless work for the Scout, he received several Scout decorations. In 1996, he received the Medal of acknowledgement and two years later the Syrinx award. In 2003, he received the distinction of the Silver River. Jiří Švec passed away on June 5, 2009. Together with his wife Růžena, they had two sons and six grandsons.