Young Pioneers: Yugoslavia


Figure 1.--

HBC has only limited information on the Pioneer movement in the former Yugoslavia, before the breakup began in 1992? A Croatian reader reports that he still had to wear a Pioneer uniform in the mid-1980s. He didn't like the Pioneers. He asks, "What was the whole point of being a Pioneer anyway? I hated going to that place. Never understood why they made me do it." Pioneers in former Yugoslavia did wear blue caps as a symbol of sea which borders their country. HBU believes that the Pioneers in each of the different republics all wore the same uniform.

HBC has asked a Croatian boy what the Pioneers were liked. He replied, "I was hoping you could tell ME what the whole point of being a Pioneer was. I was clueless as a kid and i'm clueless now. Maybe has something to do with nationalism. Uniforms were like you described them. The blue cap had a Yugoslavian star (before the war). We only dressed like that on certain days of the year. I remember we had to memorize a few sections from a small booklet and recite it to the parents and teachers that came. Once a year maybe or after a number of months, we went to some stupid place by bus where we joined with pioneers from other schools. I don't remember what we did there. I know the food sucked, and it was extremely boring for a 1st grader to be there. I don't have much memories of being a pioneer because its not something we did very often I think. Don't remember any summer camps either. I never realized that it was a communist country. It's one of those "I live here in US now, so forget about the past" kind of deals."







Christopher Wagner






Navigate the Historic Boys' Uniform Chronology Pages:
[Return to the Main chronologies page]
[The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s] [The 1990s] [The 2000s]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Uniform Web Site:
[Introduction] [Chronologies] [Organizations] [FAQs] [Bibliographies] [Contributions]
[Boys' Uniform Home]





Navigate the Historic Boys' Uniform Web organization pages:
[Return to the Main Pioneer page]
[Boys' Brigade] [Camp Fire] [Hitler Youth] [National] [Royal Rangers] [Scout]



Created: June 8, 2001
Last updated: June 8, 2001