Rudolf Plajner (5 April 1901 – 23 June 1987) was a Czech Scouting pioneer and teacher, He was declared the Chief Scout of the newly unified Czech Scouts and Guides association called

Junák Junák – český skaut (''Junák – Czech Scouting''), is the internationally recognized organization of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic. Founded in 1911, Junák – český skaut is the largest organisation of children and youth in ...

after its inception on 22 January 1939. Junák was abolished by force and

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

prohibited by German State Secretary

Karl Hermann Frank Karl Hermann Frank (24 January 1898 – 22 May 1946) was a Sudeten Germans, Sudeten German Nazism, Nazi official in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia prior to and during World War II. Attaining the rank of ''Obergruppenführer'', he was in ...

during the

Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

on 28 October 1940. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the association was reborn. His function was confirmed at the third Junák council () in 1968, and served in this function until the end of his life.

Background

Plajner was born on 5 April 1901 in

Prostějov Prostějov (; ) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 43,000 inhabitants. The city is historically known for its fashion industry. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zo ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. He earned the RNDr. title (the Czech

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

), specializing in

math Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Between 1929 and 1959, he lived and taught at the

real school Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

Holešov Holešov (; ) is a town in Kroměříž District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administra ...

. Plajner took part in building Defense of the Nation ( :cs:Obrana národa) and in other resistance organizations. He was arrested in 1943, and released after two months. He again joined the

Czech resistance to Nazi occupation Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate on 15 March 1939. German policy dete ...

and cooperated with

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

brigade "

Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha (; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czechs, Czech military leader and Knight who was a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus, and a prominent Radical Hussite who led the Taborites, Taborite faction during the Hu ...

". For fighting to liberate

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

from German occupation during World War II, he received the Czechoslovak War Cross (''Československý válečný kříž'') from president

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

. After the war Plajner received several honors and Junák started to work again in 1945, but in 1948 was included in the ''Socialist Youth Union'' ( :cs:Socialistický svaz mládeže, SSM), the Czechoslovak Communist youth organisation, and dissolved in 1950. Plajner was arrested and imprisoned shortly in 1949 in

Uherské Hradiště Uherské Hradiště (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. The agglomeration with the two neighbouring towns of Staré Město (Uherské Hradiště District), Staré Město and Kunovice has over ...

. Junák shortly renewed its existence between 1968 and 1970 after the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

. In the communist period he and members of his family were persecuted. Later in this period he received several state and Scout awards due to his work for the Scouting movement, including the Silver Wolf. Plajner spent the end of his life in Luka pod Medníkem (now part of

Jílové u Prahy Jílové u Prahy () is a town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative divi ...

), where he wrote a series of books and writings about the history and Scout life of the Junák movement. He published mostly on Scouting topics, and is the author of the Scout handbook ''Přiručka pro Junáky'', ''Junácké hry pro školy a oddíly'' (Junák games for schools and troops), ''Radosti junáckého roku'' (Joys of the Scout year) and ''Úsvit českého junáctví'' (Sunrise of Czech Scouting).

References

External links

Napajedelské noviny, Kdo byl professor RNDr. Rudolf Plajner

Valašské Athény, Slovník osobností východní Moravy

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plajner, Rudolf 1901 births 1987 deaths People from Prostějov Czech people of German descent Scouting pioneers Scouting and Guiding in the Czech Republic Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross Chief Scouts Charles University alumni