Svazarm

Svazarm or Union for Cooperation with the Army (Czech: Svaz pro spolupráci s armádou / Svazarm, Slovak: Zväz pre spoluprácu s armádou / Zväzarm) was, in Communist Czechoslovakia, the largest "paramilitary" organisation, although many of the activities that Svazarm provided for its members were more reminiscent of a Boy Scout movement than of a regimented paramilitary group.

[1] Established in 1951, the Svazarm was an almost exact copy of the Soviet Union's DOSAAF, however, with massively scaled down maritime activities as Czechoslovakia was landlocked.

A more specialised branch of the Svazarm, based at Košice, trained pilots for the air force.

Svazarm also operated its own hi-fi club and record label, Čs.

Many Svazarm members thought that as any World War III would be fought with nuclear weapons, conventional military training was a complete waste of time and thus took up an apathetic view of the entire Svazarm enterprise.