Scouts in World War II

The best known Scouts and Guides during the Nazi occupation of the European continent were the Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego (The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, ZHP) and the Junák - svaz skautů a skautek ČR (Association of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic). The former took an active part in the underground Movement, most famously during the Warsar Uprising of 1944 when scouts served as couriers and messengers along the streets of Warsaw under imminent danger. The latter's leaders joined the resistance and took also an active part against the Nazi occupiers...After the Invasion of Poland of 1939 the ZHP were branded criminals by The Nazi Party of Germany (who had gone so far as executing many Scouts and Guides, along with other possible resistance leaders), but they carried on as a clandestine organization. They became nicknamed the Szare Szeregi (Grey Ranks) and cooperated with the Polish underground state and the Armia Krajowa resistance. The older Scouts carried out sabotage and armed resistance. The Girl Guides formed auxiliary units working as nurses, liaisons and munition carriers. At the same time the youngest Scouts were involved in so-called small sabotage under the auspice of the Wawer organization, which included dropping leaflets or painting the kotwica sign on the walls. During Operation Tempest, and especially during the Warsaw Uprising, the Scouts participated in the fighting, and several Szare Szeregi units were some of the most effective in combat. Junák was abolished by force and Scouting prohibited by German State Secretary Karl Hermann Frank during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1940. Many Scouts and Guides joined the Czech Resistance; over 700 of them died during the war as part of the movement. Members of the Scout Movement in other parts of the continent also took an active part against the Nazis...