“They played a trick on me and I didn’t know that they had agreed on it beforehand. They got hold of a washtub and under some pretext they made me get in. I thought it was just some prank. But they lifted me and carried me in the tub and they staged it as a funeral procession. Little Béďa participated in it but Jarda was shocked and he burst into tears and ran into the forest.” - “Jarda was your younger son?” - “Yes and he was scared, he thought they were going to drown me. They brought me to the pond in that washtub, lowered me into water, pushed, and sent me afloat. I had to get out of there. I swam back and on the shore and there they christened me sister Akelína.”
Interviewer: “This camp in 1945, was the one where your sons participated too?” – “I loved it and they were so happy that they could go to camp.” Interviewer: “Were you coming to see them there?” – “Only once...” Interviewer: “I’m just asking.” – “I didn’t want to abuse this, in order not to disturb the other children.” Interviewer: “That’s right.” – “The first thing I did in Nejepín, when the camp was held there, was that I called my sons and told them, ´Look, I’m your leader now and you are the Cubs Scouts here. You need to obey me, just like any other Cub should and there will be no going inside my tent. I don’t want you to go to my tent because the other Cubs might say, that you can do it because you have your mommy here. You will treat me just like any other Cub Scout should. I am sister Akelína.´”
“There is one more story from Nejepín. Jan Hrabě, that was his name I think, came to tell us that they needed to catch a fox, which was roaming the forest. The Cub Scouts were excited and so were the Boy Scouts. They all went to the forest to hunt for the fox. When they came back to the camp, it turned out that what they caught was not a fox but a young vixen. They shot her and the boys brought her to the camp. I have a picture of it here.”
Albína Tesařová, nicknamed Akelína, was born in 1911, she grew up in Hradec Králové. When she was about fifteen years old, she joined the Scouts through another organization. She worked as photo laboratory technician. For a brief time, she went to work in Prague but she eventually returned to Hradec Králové. She married and had two sons. During the restoration of scouting after WWII, she had her sons join the Cub Scouts. Since there was a lack of leaders, she herself became involved as a leader. In 1946, she took part in the Forest Wolf School and in autumn of the same year, she passed the leader‘s examination. She was introduced to the world Scout chief, lady Olave Baden-Powell, during her visit to Czechoslovakia. She served as a Cub Pack leader, as a camp leader, and she was also an instructor of the Forest Wolf School until the ban on Junák‘s activities in 1950. During the second restoration of Junák (1968-1970), she became a Cub Scout leader again. She also passed the leadership role onto others during this period. From 1989, she was an active member of the Old Scout Club, under the 6th unit in Hradec Králové and she was accepted into Svojsík‘s troop. She died in 2001.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
