Emergency Help of the Scouts and Girl Scouts of the Małopolska District of the Scouting Association of the Republic оf Poland for Ukrainian War Refugees in the First Period of the Full-Scale Russian-Ukrainian War

Abstract

This article addresses a little-known and still under-researched topic concerning the forms of assistance provided to Ukrainian war refugees in Poland during the initial period of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022: the Scout service on their behalf. The aim of the study is to present the assistance provided by Scouts and Girl Scouts operating within the Scout and Girl Guide Emergency Service of the Polish Scouting Association, established in 2020 and reactivated after the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The source material for this article is studies and documents concerning PHiH’s activities, as well as accounts of service on the Polish-Ukrainian border, available on the ZHR website and Facebook social network, as well as communications from the PHiH Staff of the Małopolska District of the ZHR. In preparing this text, the author adopted a descriptive approach, focusing on the Scout service on behalf of refugees undertaken by Scouts and Girl Scouts operating within PHiH.

In this study, the author discusses the activities of the Scout and Girl Guide Emergency Service in the Małopolska District of the Polish Scout and Girl Guide Association (ZHR), highlighting various aspects of Scout service for war refugees. Activities undertaken within this organization included: running a shelter for refugees and temporarily accommodating them for overnight stays after their journey to Poland, which often took place under very difficult conditions, while being additionally exposed to Russian missile and air attacks (planes, drones) on Ukrainian territory. Furthermore, these activities included: providing beverages and food, primarily sandwiches; assisting with legalizing their stay in Poland, for example, in the case of missing documents, including passports; or escorting individuals or families to trains departing for other locations in Poland or abroad (primarily Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic). It should be remembered that after the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, over 7 million people, mainly women and children, fled the country to neighboring countries, with the majority fleeing to Poland. Polish Scouting organizations, including the Ukrainian Scout and Girl Guide Association, assisted those in need of assistance. The Małopolska District of the Scout and Guide Association (ZHR) served both in Krakow and on the border with Ukraine, with ZHR’s activities resulting from the provisions of the Scout Law and Promise.

The result of this article is a discussion of the service of the Scouts and Guides of the Polish Scout and Guide Association (PHiH) on behalf of Ukrainian war refugees, and examples of such service. It constitutes an important contribution to ongoing efforts to discuss assistance for victims of the Russian-Ukrainian war — including refugees — from both Poland and other European and global countries. It is hoped that after the end of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a historical study will be published, devoted to these events.