Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/134
writing are given for those Slovak boys who under the former Magyar rule had no opportunity in school to learn the language of their parents and who often cannot write either Magyar or Slovak.
But the most popular field of work in which the American Y. M. C. A., the Imka, as the soldiers call it, has become engaged is athletics and field sport. This work is carried on in full co-operation with the army physical dircetor of the Ministry of National Defense, and with the great Sokol organization. The Sokols who have developed a wonderful system of gymnastics and mass drill recognize the value of the American sports, athletics and mass plays which develop individual initiative, competition and team work. The two institutions, one distinctly American, the other as distinctly Czech, thus supplement each other. To foster athletics in the army the physical director arranged with the Y. M. C. A. to send one man from each regiment to attend the Y. M. C. A. training school at Žilina, later transferred to Brno. Graduates of this course are returned to their regiments as athletic directors. Already some ten thousand men take part in American sports and games each week; football is the most popular sport.
Canteen work is confined to serving soldiers hot drinks, such as coffee, chocolate and cocoa, and fresh buns or cakes which the secretary procures locally. But what the Czechoslovak soldiers prize most highly of all the stores served out in the huts is American soap which is sold at nominal price. I remember once seeing at Užhorod two thousand soldiers stand in double lines, waiting to get the American ivory soap which they call often a jewel of a soap. The Czechoslovak soldier is even more anxious to get soap than tobacco, something that cannot be said of soldiers of every nation. During the Magyar invasion of Slovakia last summer the Y. M. C. A. rendered a special service to the units involved in fighting by operating a series of movable canteens which served from five to eight thousand men each day.
The largest and best equipped buildings operated by the Y. M. C. A. in Czechoslovakia are in Brno, Opava, Komárno and Bratislava. At Brno, the capital of Moravia, the organization is housed in a fine building which was erected before the war at a cost of half a million crowns. There is a hall with a seating capacity of 1500, large rooms for canteen, for reading and writing letters, fifty shower baths and extensive athletic grounds. In Opava the Vojenský Dům was a former German exhibition building, 80 by 220 feet large, beautifully located in a park, and turned over to the Y. M. C. A. after being completely remodelled. At Komárno the Y. M. C. A. hut is the former casino theatre, used by the officers during the old regime.
It goes without saying that the success of this American invasion of the new republic is primarily due to the character of thesecretaries who are the soul of the institution. They are all loved by the soldiers who call them uncles from America or uncles Sam (strýček Sam). The Czechoslovak government appreciates the great service which the American institution renders both to the physical and moral welfare of the individual soldier, and to the spirit of the entire army. There are many testimonials to this effect, of which I will only cite two: Václav Klofáč, minister of national defense, says:
“I cannot let pass this opportunity without asking you to express our thanks for all the work that the Y. M. C. A. has done for the Czechoslovak soldiers. Gratitude to the Y. M. C. A. dates from the time, when we received news of their work among our legionaries, while our country was still in bondage. We read much praise of the humanity and truly friendly service of your Association.
You came to our liberated country soon after the Revolution and began to work with our newly organized army with the same cheerfulness and kindness you showed the soldiers at the front. All your friends who offered their aid to the Y. M. C. A. organization in the Czechoslovak Republic met the soldier with great heartiness and without waiting for thanks.
The Czechoslovak soldiers and the Czechoslovak nation will never forget the friendly kindness of the great American nation that has manifested itself in this way. The teachings of love America it putting into practice in Europe and your activity will surely bear good fruit.”
And President Masaryk said: “I am very glad to say that our soldiers find in the Y. M. C. A. huts the comfort of home, that they like to spend their spare