Polish Scouts now out in open
By Jonathan Jackson

Tomasz Habowski, 15, from Swarzedz, Poland,
spoke at a Hometown News press conference.  
By Vernon Tate/staff

Hometown News correspondents discovered a new culture Thursday as they questioned Scouts from the Zwiazek Harcerstwa Polskiego (ZHP), the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association.

The ZHP is a unique Scouting group in that it has existed since the earliest days of Lord Baden-Powell’s movement. However, locked inside an occupied nation, Scouting was outlawed by foreign rule for nearly 50 years.

The Polish contingent at the jamboree is made up of two patrols. One comes from northwest Poland and operates as a patrol at home while the other is made up of Scouts from different troops in the southwestern part of their country.

Tomasz Habowski, a 15-year-old Polish Scout spoke on behalf of fellow contingent members. He answered questions thoroughly and was resolute in letting his audience know how much they were enjoying their stay in the United States.

"I feel great to be here," he asserted as he answered questions ranging from advancement to camping styles.

Scouts in Poland do many of the same things as American Scouts.

They camp a great deal and go hiking and backpacking, an activity they call "wandering." Polish Scouts even sing around their campfires at night!

The Polish contingentís adult leader was also presented with a recording of a talk by Lord Robert Baden-Powell to Polish youth leaders in 1911.

Scouting was strong in Poland until the group was declared illegal by German occupiers during World War II. Following the war, the organization remained secret during Soviet rule.

However, the youth movement lived on as the only Scouting organization in the occupied countries to continue its activities. The movement went underground during the war under the code name of Grey Ranks.

The resistance was fortified with former Scouts who used the attitude, morals and skills from their Scouting days to keep hope for democracy alive. Members of the Grey Ranks acted as messengers for the resistance movement in Poland. Many Scouts lost their lives in this service, and they are honored in monuments throughout the nation.

In January 1996, the ZHP was issued a new charter by the World Organization of the Scout Movement, a group it helped to found in the 1920s. The World Association of Girl Guides and the Girl Scouts also accepted the ZHP in July of last year.

The co-ed ZHP is now the second-largest youth group in Poland and stands on a par with other nations’ Scouting movements.

The ZHP is 450,000 strong and held a national jamboree of its own in 1995, the 60th anniversary of its first jamboree.

Scouting in Poland involves males and females from a childís level upward. Cub Scouts and Brownies are from the ages seven to 11; Scouts and Guides range from 11 to 15. Older Scouts become Rovers or Rangers.

Youths have five ranks ranging from Volunteer to Polish Republic Scout. Leaders also have ranks.

©1997 Boy Scouts of America.