My sister and I will be bringing my father to the CR to see the lands where his father was born. We are co-inciding our arrival to occur duing the international All Sokol Slet in Prague in July. My grandfather was a founding member of Sokol Karel Havlicek Borovsky in Ennis, Texas USA in 1908. My father and I are still members. My questions are: a) How strong (how many members) is the Sokol organization in CR and SR? b) Is it looked upon as a still current organization or is it considered archaic in it's homeland? c) How many readers out there (in all the world, not just in CR and SR) are Sokols and are you planning to attend the Slet in Prague? I am grateful for all responses. Sincerely, Stephen M Chudej
a) According to official site www.sokol-cos.cz (or http://www.sokol-cos.cz/COS/sokol_en.nsf/ for English and shorter version) 180 000 members participate in Sokol. It is primarly Czech bussiness, I never heard about Sokol in Slovakia. b) That's difficult to say, I think both is right . Today it is mostly looked upon as sport organisation, all other aspects are reduced. ============= see also unofficial site www.sokol.cz
Information on American Sokol members attending the Slet in Prague can be found by contacting the American Sokol national office (Oak Brook, Illinois, USA) 630-368-0771. www.american-sokol.org
Stephen, I was a member of Sokol Žižka in Dallas and remember competing in Ennis in the late 1950's. I haven't been active in 35 years and let my membership lapse many years ago. I wasn't aware of an upcoming Slet in Prague. Unfortunately, I won't be attending. My father attended the Slet in 1938 and he had many interesting stories about getting back to the US as the Germans began their move into eastern Europe. I too remember that Sokol is strictly a Czech organization. I believe the Slovaks have a similar club but I can't remember what it is called. Thank you for triggering so many fond memories with your questions. Ed Parma
Ed, Thanks for the reply. I would like to read stories just like yours from a worldwide reponse. My Sokol heyday was the mid to late 1960's. As with you, I remember the Slets at other Sokol Halls--Ft. Worth, Corpus Christi Zizka in Dallas Sokol Houston--and I smile. I don't Know how long it has been since you've been to Dallas, but Zizka is no longer in the cotten fields somewhere off of a country road. It is in pure city and has been for 30 years. And we, At Sokol Ennis, are on our third hall since you were there in the 1950's. As far as an international All Sokols Slet, I believe there were none between 1938 when your father attended and 1990 with the fall of communism, so this will be special for my father and me. Regards,
I. slet 1882 II. slet 1891 III. slet 1895 IV. slet 1901 V. slet 1907 VI. slet 1912 VII. slet 1920 VIII. slet 1926 IX. slet 1932 X. slet 1938 XI. slet 1948 XII. slet 1994 XIII. slet 2000
wer, please explain. I am embarrased to say that only now, at 44 years of age, am I exploring my true ethnic and cultural heritage. For my entire life, I was always proud to be a full-blooded Czech (my grandparents were Chudej, Cervenka, Krajca, and Kubin), but I was really an American-Czech. Previous to 1989, there was little to find out from the old country--so now I want to make up for lost time. So, wer, what was the rival club? Thanks!
I'm sorry, my English is wrong and sometimes I write something incomprehensible. I was member of another sport club before Sokol was reestablished and because I'm loyal to my club I never join Sokol. That's all. Sokol and my club are opponents (last time I wrote 'rival', I thought it is usual word in English, is'nt?).
wer, Certainly "rival" is the appropriate word--there is no bad connotation to that word. I was just not aware of another organization such as Sokol, I am assuming that your organization was an athlethic club and not a cultural club. Correct?
Yes, exactly. BTW, there is another organization such as Sokol (=falcon). It's Orel (=eagle) - see www.orel.cz . Orel was established by catholics to reduce influence of Sokol.
wer, I believe you used the word rival correctly. As a member of Sokol here in the US I was not aware of any other sport clubs in Czech. Perhaps Stephen is the same. Can you tell us more about your club? Ed Parma
There's nothing interesting about my club . It's incomparable with countrywide Sokol. My little club is only in my town. I think comparable with Sokol are only Orel (catholic renegades from Sokol) and ČSTV (Český svaz tělesné výchovy - see www.cstv.cz). Before 1989 ČSTV was centralised organisation of almost all sportsmans. Sokol and Orel were dragooned by communists into merging with ČSTV.
