Pioneer Organization of the Socialist Youth Union

Pionýr performation during communist festival
Emblem of PO SSM

Pionýr (literally: Pioneer), officially Pioneer organization of the Socialist Youth Union (Czech: Pionýrská organizace Socialistického svazu mládeže, PO SSM), was a youth marxist-leninist organization in communist Czechoslovakia. The organisation proclaimed the group was voluntary, but the joining of every child from six years old was expected.

Etymology

The Czech word pionýr is an approximate synonym of the word skaut (scout). Both are loan words from English and both are connected with the Czech idealization of the Wild West. Therefore, the Pionýr's inspiration from the scout movement is obvious.

Activities

Pioneer activities were eclectically chosen from the Scout movement, the Sokol movement and of course Soviet Komsomol.

There are significant differences between activities in the early communist era and the late one. Its radicalism was changing over time. Pioneer was most radical in the 1950s and became more liberal during the 80s due to perestroika.

Original pioneer activities included for instance old paper or herb collecting described as “voluntary help for Czechoslovak industry.” Collecting was a nationwide competition. The winning pioneer team got a prize, a focus of mass media and it was a great reference for their later career life.

Another activity was creating a poster wall praising the Soviet Union and socialist life in general.

A common activity was “navázání družby” (“creating a friendship”) with youth from other communist countries.

Young pioneers also recited poems in various communist festivals.

Most controversial activity was young pioneers were led to denounce their parents like the Soviet hero Pavlik Morozov.

Most popular activity was a summer camp. Some summer camps specialized in the hosting of youth communist organizations from the whole Eastern Bloc.

Ideology and mission statement

Here's the mission statement from the PO-SYU Regulation from 1949.

A Pioneer -

Motto, Summons and response

Uniform

Pionýr uniform

The uniform consisted of a light blue shirt and grey trousers. The female variant used a white shirt and dark blue trousers or skirt. Both sexes wore a red neckerchief.

Post-communism Controversy

After the fall of the Communist regime in 1989, the dissolution of The Pioneer was debated. The resulting compromise was a reform of the whole movement. This decision is considered to be controversial because Pioneers were a significant symbol of communist dictatorship. Pioneers nowadays are paradoxically more liberal than Scouts.

See also

References

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