The Rotary clubs which formed the Czechoslovak district marked as no. 66 from 1927 maintained from the beginning strong links to foreign clubs, especially in Great Britain, USA, Canada and France. As new clubs were being created in neighbouring countries (1925 Vienna, 1926 Budapest, 1927 Hamburg, 1928 Beograd, 1929 Bucharest, 1931 Warsaw), cooperation broadened also in this direction. In 1929, when Austrian and German clubs merged into a common district no. 73, cooperation with them became systematic in the frame of the so-called “small committee”. The Rotary International Convention, which met in Vienna in 1931 and was strongly attended by Czechoslovak rotarians, was an opportunity for establishing further contacts. One of the working sessions met in Bratislava and a small group of attendees from overseas made a discovery trip to Prague.
The growing member base and the creation of a district required the presence of a periodical to ensure both communication between clubs and public information about the clubs´ activities. The dirst issue of the quarterly called “Československý rotarián” was published in January 1929. Editors and printers changed frequently. In 1930 the magazine changed its frequency to bi-monthly. From July 1931 the editorship and administration were ensured permanently by Vácslav Rudl, a Mladá Boleslav Rotary club member. The magazine was printed by printer Hejda a Zdroj in Mladá Boleslav. Československý rotarián was published in glossy black and white, format A4, with an advertising envelope with a simple clasp binding in a combination of Czech, Slovak and German according to the author´s language preference. It was one of 30 official Rotarian periodicals being issued at that time in 11 different languages for different Rotarian districts and regions. Its publication was terminated in 1938. Unfortunately, a whole sequence of all issues has not been preserved even in public libraries, only several numbers remain extant.
Even this incomplete series of individual issues of the magazine, however, represents an irreplaceable source of authentic information about the activities of Rotary clubs in Czechoslovakia in 1929 – 1938. The colourful club life was centred on interesting professional presentations, visits between clubs and tourism events (not just outings, but for example sponsorship of touristic objects). Members of Rotary clubs translated “pro bono” information material about their cities and ensured sponsorship of their press. The clubs materially supported e.g. the building of public objects (schools, hospitals, theatres, youth homes, art monuments, local transportation buildings, etc. In the western part of the district support of boy scout groups was common, in the eastern part it was the founding and support of the Czechoslovak Red Cross. Support of school lunches for poor children was common. Charitable events peaked each year during the Advent and Christmas holidays.
The history of the Rotarian community during Czechoslovakia´s first republic is deeply connected with the Prague City House (Obecní dům). It was in its halls that the RC Prague, the first Rotary club in Czechoslovakia, was inaugurated in 1925. The Rotary club´s seat, however, moved to different addresses. In 1927 the Rotary district no. 66 was ceremoniously proclaimed at the City Hall. Two district conferences were held in the City House (1929 and 1937). The Sladkovský Hall in the City House was the location of regular Monday meetings of more than a hundred Rotarians from September 1931. From early January 1932 an office was rented on the 3rd floor which served as the base of the club and the secretariate od the whole district until the time of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
For example, it is worth noting the frequency of the visits of world RI presidents in Czechoslovakia connected with an audience with the President of the Republic T.G. Masaryk. In 1929 it was Tom Sutton of Mexico with his wife, in 1934 John Nelson of Canada. Later also, still before the war, Edvard Beneš as President of the Republic received two more RI presidents, Ed R. Johnson (1936) and Maurice Duperrey (1938).
Mentioning here the situation of the German-Austrian district 73 after Adolf Hitler s advance to power in 1933, we only anticipate what was the fate of our clubs somewhat later. Rotary clubs attracted the attention of German Nazis (NSdAP) from the very beginning. As soon as 1932, an inciteful pamphlet against Rotarians was published by a Nazi writer under the title of “German Mysterious Men!”. At the beginning, the period 1933-1937 was marked by mutual concessions. At that time the Nazis, due to their international relations, could not yet allow themselves a harder advance against the Rotarians; whilst the Rotarians, in the spirit of their traditional support for the state where they operated, tried to find an acceptable manner of inclusion into the new social system that was emerging; always hoping that they will be able to maintain their principles. These hopes ended with the Nuremburg trials. The German Rotarians gave their fight up at a common session of all German Reich Rotary clubs (44 clubs with 1082 members) and declared the official ending of their activities as of 15th October 1937. The same date marked the end of district 73. It is hard to say which way the Austrian clubs were going to take after that. In any case, they were not left much time. After the violent annexation of Austria to the German Third Reich 13th March 1938, the activities of all eleven Austrian Rotary clubs were ended.
Czechoslovakia was also exposed to growing internal and external pressure under the influence of the strengthening power of the Nazi Third Reich. That was expressed particularly in the frontier area of Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia, in the region of Sudetenland, where Rotary clubs were operating in Mariánské Lázně, Karlovy Vary, Teplice-Šanov, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec and Opava. It is certain that all of them had mixed membership so that Rotarians of German, Czech or any other nationality operated in them, represented according to local conditions. Clubs tried to develop mutual understanding in their educational and cultural projects. It is also probable that Rotary club members were helping those who emigrated to here from Germany after Hitler came to power. Slovak clubs were not subjected to these pressures during this period as much. Nothing suggested in the programme of the district conference which met in May 1938 in Košice that the problematic situation in Czechoslovakia would have cause any greater worries. The general feeling was that we would be protected by our allies. Nevertheless, private discussions among delegates kept bringing up rather strong fears about future developments. The incoming governor of the district František Král therefore declared support of the prestige of Czechoslovakia in the world through the influential Rotary networks a priority for the next term.
Both Czechoslovak Presidents were honorary governors of Rotary district no. 66.
T.G. Masaryk accepted this title in September 1932.
Edvard Beneš accepted the title in May 1938.
Participation of Rotarians from past Czechoslovakia in the highest leadership of RI:
1928/1929 Josef Schulz, RC Prague, member of the RI Board of Directors
1932/1933 Alois Červenka, RC Plzeň, member of the International Committee RI for public service
1936/1937 Karel Neuwirth, RC Brno, member of the RI Board of Directors
List of District Conferences
1928 Plzeň, 1929 /Prague, 1930 Karlovy Vary, 1931 Bratislava, 1932 Brno, 1933 Hradec Králové, 1934 Poděbrady, 1935 Moravská Ostrava, 1936 Teplice, 1937 Prague, 1938 Košice
Photo: front page of one of the issues of the magazine Československý rotarián.
Svatopluk K. Jedlička
RC Praha City
