(1912-2002)
Dagmar Skálová, a prominent girl-scout leader who joined the anti-totalitarian resistance after the Communist Party took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948. She became one of the greatest resistance’s heroines. Through her, on 17 May 1949, dozens of boy- and girl-scouts took part in a planned attempt to overthrow the communist regime. However, the state security arrested them in a large-scale raid. During cruel interrogations, Dagmar Skálová showed great personal bravery, took the blame herself and saved a number of scouts from spending long years in communist prisons. She avoided the death penalty, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and ended up spending 16 years in jail. In 1997, President Václav Havel awarded her one of Czechia’s highest orders.