| The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association | |||
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| Polish:Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego | |||
| Headquarters | ZHP HeadquartersWarsaw, Konopnickiej 6 | ||
| Country | Poland | ||
| Founded | 1 November 1918 | ||
| Founder | Andrzej Małkowski,Olga Małkowska | ||
| Membership | 142 692 as of 2023 | ||
| Naczelnik | Martyna Kowacka | ||
| Affiliation | World Organization of the Scout Movement,World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts | ||
| Website www | |||
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 Scouting portal | |||
ThePolish Scouting and Guiding Association (Polish:Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego, ZHP) is the coeducationalPolishScouting organization recognized by theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement and theWorld Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. It was founded in 1918 and currently is the largest Scouting organization in Poland (142 692 members in 2023).[1] The firstZHP was founded in 1916, the current one is the fourth organization with this name. It is apublic benefit organization as defined byPolish law.
The Polish Scout movement was started in 1910. Initially, the ideas ofScouting were implemented byAndrzej Małkowski and his wifeOlga. The three main branches of Polish Scouting included theStrzelec paramilitary organization for boys, asport and education societySokół and the anti-alcoholic associationEleusis. However, it wasn't until thePartitions of Poland came to an end that the ZHP would be officially founded by the merging of existing groups.
Soon after the merger in 1918, the ZHP members fought in all the conflicts Poland was engaged in around this time:Great Poland Uprising,Polish-Bolshevik War,Silesian Uprisings, and Polish-Ukrainian War, much like their predecessors during theSiege of Mafeking.
All of the units joined in 1918 and formed the ZHP, one of the founding members of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement. Although many units retained their own traditions, a common law, common symbols, and a common oath were introduced. The primary difference between most Scouting organizations and the PolishHarcerstwo was described by Andrzej Małkowski:
Harcerstwo isScouting plus independence.
Before 1939 the ZHP was one of the largest social and educational associations in Poland with over 200,000 members. Among the "sponsors" of PolishHarcerstwo were all the presidents of Poland and several high-ranking officers of the Polish Land Forces, including generalJózef Haller.
After theinvasion of Poland of 1939, the ZHP, many of whom joined defense militias, were branded partisans and criminals byNazi Germany, who hadexecuted many scouts and guides, along with other possible resistance leaders (for example during theKatowice massacre[2]). Nonetheless, the ZHP carried on as a clandestine organization. In 1940, theSoviet Union executed most of the Boy Scouts held atOstashkov prison.
The wartime scouts evolved into the paramilitarySzare Szeregi (Grey Ranks), cooperating with thePolish underground state and theArmia Krajowa resistance. Older scouts carried out sabotage, armed resistance, and assassinations. The Girl Guides formed auxiliary units working as nurses, liaisons, and munition carriers. At the same time, the youngest scouts were involved in so-called small sabotage under the auspice of theWawer organization, which included droppingleaflets or painting thekotwica sign on the walls. DuringOperation Tempest, and especially during theWarsaw Uprising, the scouts participated in the fighting, and severalSzare Szeregi units were some of the most effective in combat.
In December 1944 thePolish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN) reformed the scouting movement under the name of the pre-WWII scouting organization, though with authorities loyal to the new government and an ethos in line with that of the SovietPioneer Movement, pressuring the organization to become a member thereof, eventually altogether disbanding in even in that form in 1949.[3] The organization was integrated into thePolish United Workers' Party (PZPR), with most of its members now part of a new Soviet-style, government-sponsored pioneer organization – theScouts of the Working Youth of Poland (Scouting Organisation of the Association of Polish Youth –Organizacja Harcerska Związku Młodzieży Polskiej or ZMP-OH), which retained the original Polish scouting movement's motto while adopting pioneer traditions of Eastern Bloc countries, save for the uniform and the pioneer salute used in the Soviet Union and other pioneer associations of the Eastern Bloc (the scouts retained the two-finger salute in honor of the young boys and girls who fought in the Second World War with both the Polish People's Army and the Home Army). The only existing part of pre-war ZHP is theZHP pgK, established to serve Polish scouts outside their homeland.[4]
In 1956, afterStalin's andBolesław Bierut's death, thePolish United Workers' Party youth movement ZMP OH was transformed and renamed to ZHP. However the new ZHP did not consider itself as a continuation of the pre-war ZHP, but as a new organization (until 1980). After 1958 many pre-war instructors were removed from the new ZHP or marginalized (likeAleksander Kamiński) and the original oath, law, educational content and methods were changed (mention of God was removed from the oath,Lenin introduced as a hero, theBolshevik Revolution was commemorated, the brigades became co-educational similar to Eastern Bloc Pioneer associations). The two-finger salute common to the Polish Scouts was retained, and a new uniform debuted.
Despite this, the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association became one of the very few official organizations that retained some independence from the ruling PZPR party. Because of this, its growth was rapid, and in 1980 it had more than three million active members. The Polish Scouts were engaged in a variety of duties, varying from helping in the fields of the poorest regions to organizing the visits ofPope John Paul II. After themartial law was imposed in 1981 the ZHP was the only large social organization not to be banned. The "VIII ZHP Convention" even supported themartial law. However, many of its high-ranking officials were interned because of their involvement in theSolidarność movement, as well as several Scoutmasters. The ZHP would later be admitted in the 1980s as part of thePatriotic Movement for National Rebirth.[citation needed]
In 1989, after the period of peaceful transformation began, many groups of instructors formed separate Scouting organizations (like theZHR,[5]Stowarzyszenie Harcerstwa Katolickiego Zawisza[6] orZHP-1918[7]). These moves were prompted by political disagreements with the character of ZHP; they felt that its communist takeover left a permanent mark upon the organisation, and that the only way to effectively reform the movement was to found a new organisation. ZHR's founding will serve as an adequate example of this principle. After pope John Paul II's first pilgrimage to Poland in August 1980, some "non-conforming" instructors inside the ZHP created the Andrzej Małkowski Circle of Scout Instructors (KIHAM), with the objective to restore original Scout ideals. These instructors presented reformative motions to the 7th Congress of ZHP at the beginning of 1981, but these were all rejected. When martial law was imposed in December 1981, a large number of organisations were outlawed, so ZHR was forced to conduct their activities – weekly meetings, yearly camps and so on – underground. The underground movement came to light in the fall of 1988. After they were unsuccessful in reforming the ZHP their way, the ZHR was founded.[8]
In this reformative climate, ZHP did adopt some of Polish Scouting's pre-war traditions: e.g. the original oath and Scouts Law were reintroduced, and of course the overt communist aspects, such as the glorification of Lenin, were removed. However, the organisation remains co-educational. In 1993Lech Wałęsa became the honorary protector of the ZHP, just like all former Polish presidents. In 1996 the ZHP rejoined the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout Association is also a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (since 1996),International Scout and Guide Fellowship,International Catholic Conference of Scouting,International Catholic Conference of Guiding. These memberships have allowed ZHP to claim the greatest legitimacy, successfully dominating the other organisations of Polish Scouting, such as ZHR and ZHP pgK, the organisation which brings together Polish Scouts in the international Emigree community, with members in Australia, Argentina, Belarus, Canada, France, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Sweden, the United States, Ukraine, among other countries with Polish residents in the diaspora[9] and as such the organization is affiliated to theInternational Link of Orthodox Christian Scouts.[10][11][12] ZHP PGK, also known as ZHP Świat, has adopted policies similar to those of the Boy Scouts of America, where agnostics and atheists are not allowed to be instructors.
There are four age groups, although the age limits are not strictly adhered to:
The basic unit of ZHP is adrużyna (troop), consisting of approximately 30 boys or girls. Eachdrużyna is formed by several units namedzastęp (patrol) consisting of about seven people. A few troops (especially working at the same school or housing estate) can be connected in oneszczep (group). Several groups or/and troops from a specified area (borough, village, town) form ahufiec (district) which in turn is a part of one of the regions calledchorągiew (literallybanner). For example, a particular Scout can be a member of
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