Rudolf Plajner
Encyclopedia
Scouting in the Czech Republic
The Scout and Guide movement in the Czech Republic is served by*Junák, member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts,of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and of International Scout and Guide Fellowship...
called Junák
Junák
Junák, or more properly, Junák - svaz skautů a skautek ČR , is the largest association of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic...
, after its inception on January 22, 1939. Junák was abolished by force and Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
prohibited by German State Secretary Karl Hermann Frank
Karl Hermann Frank
Karl Hermann Frank was a prominent Sudeten German Nazi official in Czechoslovakia prior to and during World War II and an SS-Obergruppenführer...
during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1940. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the association was reborn. His function was confirmed at the third Junák council or meeting (cs:sněm) in 1968, and served in this function until the end of his life.
Plajner was an RNDr., the Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in natural sciences, specializing in math and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at Charles University in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Between 1929 and 1959 he lived and taught at the :cs:reálné gymnázium (high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
) in Holešov
Holešov
Holešov is a town in the Zlín Region, Czech Republic. The town is located on the western hillside of the Hostýn Hills - the westernmost part of the Carpathian Mountains....
.
Plajner took part in building Defense of the Nation
Czech resistance to Nazi occupation
Czech resistance to German Nazi occupation during World War II is a scarcely documented subject, by and large a result of little formal resistance and an effective German policy that deterred acts of resistance or annihilated organizations of resistance...
(: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
Czech resistance to Nazi occupation
Czech resistance to German Nazi occupation during World War II is a scarcely documented subject, by and large a result of little formal resistance and an effective German policy that deterred acts of resistance or annihilated organizations of resistance...
and cooperated with guerrilla brigade "Jan Žižka
Jan Žižka
Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha , Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at small village Trocnov in Bohemia, into a gentried family. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka"...
". For fighting to liberate Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
from German occupation during World War II, he received the Czechoslovak War Cross (Československý válečný kříž) from president Dr. Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.- Youth :...
.
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 Czechoslovakian Communist youth organisation
Youth organizations in Communist Czechoslovakia
Youth organizations have always played an important role in political regimes.After the 1948 takeover of power, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia formed two Soviet-style youth organizations: the Pionýr and the Czechoslovak Union of Youth...
, and dissolved in 1950. Plajner was arrested and imprisoned shortly in 1949 in Uherské Hradiště
Uherské Hradište
Uherské Hradiště is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Morava river and is the seat of the Uherské Hradiště District.- History :...
. Junák shortly renewed its existence between 1968 and 1970 after the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
.
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
Silver Wolf
The Silver Wolf is the highest award made by The Scout Association "for services of the most exceptional character." It is an unrestricted gift of the Chief Scout...
.
Plajner spent the end of his life in Luka pod Mednikem, now part of Jílové u Prahy, 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).