Polish Boy Scout Uniforms

History

Modern Poland as an independent state was created by the Versilles Treaty ending the First World War. It was the first time Poland had existed for more than two centuries. Scouting emerged as the most popular youth organization. The Scouts were upressed, however, by both the NAZIs and Communists after the country was divided up between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.

Polish Scouting was supressed by the NAZIs and there particularly brutal occupation of the country. Scouts were active participation in the resistance. Scouting was strong in Poland until the group was declared illegal by German occupiers during World War II. Following the war, the organization remained secret during Soviet rule. However, the youth movement lived on as the only Scouting organization in the occupied countries to continue its activities. The movement went underground during the war under the code name of Grey Ranks. The resistance was fortified with former Scouts who used the attitude, morals and skills from their Scouting days to keep hope for democracy alive. Members of the Grey Ranks acted as messengers for the resistance movement in Poland. Many Scouts lost their lives in this service, and they are honored in monuments throughout Poland.

Structure

The Polish Scout association is the Zwiazek Harcerstwa Polskiego (ZHP), the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. The ZHP is a unique Scouting group in that it has existed since the earliest days of Lord Baden-Powell's movement. However, locked inside an occupied nation, Scouting was outlawed by foreign rule for nearly 50 years.

The ZHP in January 1996, was issued a new charter by the World Organization of the Scout Movement, a group it helped to found in the 1920s. The World Association of Girl Guides and the Girl Scouts also accepted the ZHP in July of last year.

The co-ed ZHP is now the second-largest youth group in Poland and stands on a par with other nations' Scouting movements. The ZHP is 450,000 strong and held a national jamboree of its own in 1995, the 60th anniversary of its first jamboree.

Figure 1.--

Structure

Scouting in Poland involves males and females from a childís level upward. Cub Scouts and Brownies are from the ages seven to 11; Scouts and Guides range from 11 to 15. Older Scouts become Rovers or Rangers. Youths have five ranks ranging from Volunteer to Polish Republic Scout. Leaders also have ranks.

Uniform