Immediately after the liberation of Czechoslovakia, during 1945, the pre-war Rotary clubs on our territory started to renew their activities. By 1948 half of those in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia managed it, while in Slovakia only the one in Bratislava did. Subcarpathia, where there used to be a RC in Uzhorod, was annexed to the Soviet Union on 29th June 1945. New clubs were, however, appearing on Luhačovice, Nymburk, Trenčianske Teplice and elsewhere.
Rotary Club International recognised the existence of the renewed district no. 66 very quickly. The last pre-war governor of district, MVDr František Král from Brno, as well as most of the other functionaries took back their offices. The governor´s contact with Prague was emsured by the experienced and tireless organiser Adolf Sequens, who had been an officer of Rotary since the very beginnings of Rotary in Czechoslovakia.
Quoting from the first monthly governor´s letter to the clubs dated 22md July 1946: „It is woth a special feeling that I am taking the pen in order to write my first monthly letter through which after a long time – of eight years – I want to communicate again with my friends, who in spite of all the suffering during the occupation remained faithful to the ideals of Rotary. It is on the one hand a feeling of great joy that Czechoslovak Rotarians not only did not fail, buz came out of the cruel times hardened, ballanced and strengthened in Rotarian ideals; on the other hand a feeliing of the great amount of work that stands in front of us, and of the great responsibility we have not just toward our great world-wide Rotarian family, but primarily toward our nation and our private conscience.“
In their post-war enthusiasm, cosmopolian belirf and wish to support inter-governmental agreements about the new world order Rotarians actively supported the Two-year Plan od Renewal declared for 1947-1948 by the government of Klement Gottwald (prime minister from 2nd July 1946). They were planning to help the re-establishment of Rotary clubs in Poland and Yugoslavia and assumed, somewhat naively, the development of Rotary clubs in the Soviet Union. A clear signal that things were going to move in a different direction was the refuisal by Czechoslovakia in 1947 of the large economic help offered by the USA to thewar-damaged countries of Europe on direct orders by Stalin. The fact that the Marxhall Plan was supported by Rotary clubs in many countries became after the communist coupin 1948 one of the proofs that Rotary clubs were „instruments of the policy of imperialist powers“.
The post-war food aid fot Europe (11 countries) in the form of packets od 13.5 kg net of food was organised in the USA by CARE, a company established by 25 charities including Rotary International. Friends or relatives of affected families, who lived in the USA, sent demands for the delivery of these packets to individual addresses in the form of an order to CARE headquarters. That assured delivery within two weeks to the address. The signed and confirmed part of the order was returned to the doner in the USA. The donor paid 10 dollars for this transaction. The income from these payments (abpit 2 million packets were sent) was distributed to countries in proportion to thenumber of packets for other aid. In Czechoslovakia a branch of CARE was active until the earky 1950´s(!) and its activities were renewed after 1989.
In 1946 the news was recieved that in Poděbrady a nem boarding state high school was opened under the name „Kong George of Poděbrady College“ with the direct participation of two members of the local Rotary club, MUDr Ladislav Filip and RNDr František G. Jahoda. The college followed the example of foreign schools and kept contacts with such schools. The formo of the school was developed earlier in the prison in Terezín. Here dr. Filip met dr. Jahoda and by chance also his neighbour from Poděbrady dr. Vojtěch Sailer. They agreed that if they manage to survi ve they will work on the establishment of a school they called idealistically „the school for my son“. After the war ended it took them a full year to get the college started and classes opened on 2nd Septembrt 1946. The school and the sleeping quarters were placed in the Poděbrady castle. In the first year there were 218 students (158 boys and 60 girls), of whom 81 were boarding. Priority was given to those whose families sufferes during the Nazi occupation. In the school chronicle and the school magazine „Slovo“ many authentic stories can be found, of which the most interesting ones might be one by 12 year old Václav Havel and another by 16 year old Miloš Forman. The school is in operation to this day.
The official renewal of Rotary in Czechoslovakia was an exception in all central and eastern Europe, which was progressively falling under the influence of the Soviet Union. Hungarian and Romanian Rotarians were meeting for some time illegally, in Poland, Bulgaria and other countries Rotary activities were not renewed even clandestinedly. RI headquarters understood this well and gave our country extra attention. This was expressed by more frequent mentions in the Rotarian monthly „The Rotarian“ and in presentations at international conferences and meetings, as well as by the personal attendance of the RI president Richard C, Hedke at the 12th konference of district 66, which took place in Plzeň 18th 21st April 1947.This district conference was attended by 304 people representing 29 Czechoslovak clubs and 3 foreign ones.
The address of Jan Masaryk, minister of foreign affairs, was well recieved. His presentation was taped and survived. It lasted nearly half an hour and follows his earthy and popular style,full of folky histories and repetitively interrupted by salvos of laughter and clapping. We have chosen an excerpt which is an appeal to maintain freedom and liberty in society: „O have always been interested in Rotary. It is an international issue. Czechoslovakia must remain international and will remain international. I wish Rotarians great success. I would say Rotarians are something above politics. We Rotarians can speak the language of Rotarians, can at the same time belong to different political parties, and so exactly because of that can and must keep our freedom.“
Svatopluk K. Jedlička
RC Praha City
Photo: Participants of the 1947 District Conference in Pilsen. From left: RI President Richard C. Hedke, Jan Masaryk, and District Governor MVDr. František Král.
