Christmas at the Inactive Border Patrol Officers’ School

Christmas at the Inactive Border Patrol Officers’ School, and a Sweet Bread Recipe of the Border Patrol

The inactive officers’ school for Border Patrol members – soldiers was established on 24 October 1951. Its graduates could become professional Border Patrol officers. The first course ended in May/June 1952, and its curriculum approached that of the Border Patrol’s Military Vocational School, although in organisational terms it was under control of the PS-9200 Prague Unit, i.e. the exercise regiment. Its name varied over time, for instance, school for inactive officers or inactive officers’ school.
In the first course, the students were given five days off during Christmas 1951 that were taken in turns by company. Company 1 started their holiday on 22 December 1951 and Company 2 on 29 December 1951. Each company was also granted a task-free day before each holiday.
The school commander Josef Stoklasa issued a special instruction No. 47 two days before the Boxing Day, in which he also wished “all privates, non-commissioned and commissioned officers to have a merry Christmas holiday, regain new energy and be even more successful in their preparedness for combat in the next year.” The main content, however, was the preparation of the Christmas dinner, apparently applicable to Company 2, as Company 1 was on holiday.
The instruction ordered the Christmas dinner at the inactive officers’ school to be prepared on 24 December 1951 as follows: The first course was to be fish soup with semolina, followed by fried carp with potato salad and tea with rum. The second course was to be cold dish, bread and bean coffee. The crew was also to be served sweat bread, half a kilogram of apples and 100 gr. of nuts, 120 gr. of Christmas sweets and confectionery. Interestingly, the instruction urged that the room for political education should be decorated and plates should be used for dinner. There was also some logistics involved. The instruction eventually demanded that the party and youth communist organisation “help to secure a really successful and smooth course of the dinner and deliver real comradeship in each group”.
Unfortunately we have no information on the raw materials used for sweet bread and confectionery. The instruction does not mention whether they were delivered to the school, or whether they were baked by the military cooks. We can only add a recipe for sweet bread of the border patrol unit based in Volary, South Bohemia, dating back to 1954. It is included in the instruction issued by the commander of the 10th Border Patrol in Volary, No. 0130, dated 9 December 1954, which includes the following extras for the 24 December:
Instead of 100 gr. of meat, which was the usual portion, 200 gr. of fish was to be used, along with 15 gr. of fat, 2 gr. of tea, 30 gr. of sugar and 150 gr. of nuts.
One piece of sweet bread for every soldier in the border patrol was to be worth 6.57 Kc, with the following ingredients: 350 gr. of fine flour, 150 gr. of gross flour, 75 gr. of fat, 75 gr. of sugar, 10 gr. of raisins, 1/8 l of milk and half an egg.
The same sweet bread was also planned for 31 December 1954, along with 2 gr. of tea and 30 gr. of sugar.
An extra meal was also to be served on 1 January 1955, worth 1.20 Kc per soldier. It was to include 3 gr. of bean coffee, 30 gr. of sugar, 50 gr. of fine flour, 50 gr. of gross flour and 10 gr. of fat. However, there is no mention as to what was baked from these ingredients on the New Years’ Eve in the Volary brigade. Would you have an idea?

[1]ABS, coll. 2353 – Border Patrol School in Bruntal, inv. no. 4

[2]ABS, coll. 2345 – 10^th Border Patrol in Volary, inv.no. 52