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Ivan Chmola
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The first scout troops
were formed in l9ll in Lviv, the largest city in Western Ukraine, then
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The first members were students
in the local schools and the movement spread rapidly to the
other Ukrainian schools and centers. By l9l3 the first Supreme Scout Council
"Oseredna Plastova Uprava" had been formed and the first scouting handbooks
were published.
Shortly after its establishment, the evolution of the Ukrainian scouting movement was disrupted by World War I, which brought about the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian and Tsarist Russian Empires. Many Ukrainian youths after participating in scout camps in the summer of l9l4, joined the "Ukrainski Sichovi Striltsi" (Ukrainian Sich Riflemen), a volunteer unit in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After l9l8 this military unit fought during the Ukrainian War of National Liberation until l920 when Ukraine was occupied by her neighbors. In 1915 a girls' Plast organization was founded. |
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Under Soviet and Romanian occupation
all Ukrainian scouting activities were abolished, although under Polish
administration Plast continued to develop rapidly in Western Ukraine despite
numerous obstacles. The reactivated Supreme Council convened the
first conference of Plast leaders, conducted training camps, organized
the first National Jamboree, started four fully functioning branches within
Plast: cubs, scouts, rovers and senior scouts. A fundamental guidebook
for scout activities "Zhyttia v Plasti"
written by Dr. O. Tysovskyj was published in l92l.
It was at this time that Plast first requested international recognition but this was denied on political grounds. In the late l920's opposition by the Polish authorities seriously impaired further growth of Plast which had over 6,000 members in 1930. However, in that year the Plast movement was dissolved by the Polish authorities and Plast became an illegal organization. Plast continued to flourish in that part of Ukraine under Czechoslovak administration, maintaining close liaison with the underground scout units in other parts of Western Ukraine. Small delegations of Ukrainian scouts unofficially participated in the 3rd and 4th World Jamborees in l929 and l933, attempting to make the world scouting movement aware of the suppression of Plast activities in Ukraine. During the 1930's, Plast Branches were founded in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and in France. Independent Plast Branches were established in Canada and the United States. |
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The Soviet occupation
of western Ukraine in October, 1939 resulted in mass arrests of Ukrainian
community leaders among them several leaders and instructors from the Plast
movement. Plast survived the Second World War and began to flourish again
in the refugee camps in Western Europe. By l946 its membership exceeded
l0,000 members who participated in regular camps, training courses, jamborees,
publishing various publications, including a Ukrainian translation of Baden-Powell's
"Scouting for Boys."
Plast became a member of the D.P. (displaced persons) Division of the Boy Scouts International Bureau. Delegations participated in the 6th and 7th World Jamborees in l947 and l95l. In l947, Severyn Levytsky (Lewyckyj) (Siryi Lev) was elected the first "Nachalnyi Plastun" in Germany. |
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