(CZ) Učitelské noviny Zdeňka Nejedlého
(EN) Zdenek Nejedly‘s Teachers’ Newspaper

At the request of the socialist teachers Zdeněk Nejedly took over the old Teachers’ Newspaper in the autumn of 1933. This was at a time when the bourgeoisie had just introduced several measures, which threatened the leftist and mainly the communist press and democratic organizations as such. It was not only a formal act which made Nejedly the owner and publisher of this paper. Nejedly devoted much time to this paper and also wrote frequent contributions. Due to his efforts the Teachers’ Newspaper was published even after Munich, up to January 1939, as the only legal paper with a socialist trend. The Teachers’ Newspaper had an old' tradition as an opposition paper and from the beginning of the nineties, when it was taken over by the Socialist Teachers. Association, it slowly turned into a paper with a socialist trend, the only one of its kind. Its special position was also given by the fact that it was not dependent on any teachers’ organization and that it therefore could look at the problems of education and teachers from the point of view of all teaching staff and in the socialist spirit. Under Nejedty’s management this trend was further confirmed. The Teachers’ Newspaper spread the ideas. of socialism, helped to introduce Marx-Leninism into the minds of the teachers, became more and more effective and attractive mainly for the young generation of teachers, who considered Nejedly to be their ideological leader. Nejedly did not interfere in the actual questions concerning education and teachers. His main aim was the correct world outlook and political orientation in the given situation. Most of his articles were stimulated by the efforts to make the teachers realize that their place in the social struggle is on the side of the workers and that only together with the working class they can hold their place as a social force and find support for their own demands. He held many discussions concerning this basic orientation with the liberal democratic teachers’ leaders, who believed in the illusory revival of democracy and practiced in their organizations the policy expressed by the slogan “neither from right nor left”. In a series of articles Nejedly therefore systematically and in a clear way explained the basic laws of social transformations and thus carried out an exceedingly significant propaganda and politico-educational work. The results were reflected in the positive shift in the way of thought of the teachers concerning the world outlook and political trends after World War II. By his activity he prepared the teachers for their future tasks in their liberated country.