ABSTRACT
Among the intellectuals, if Professor Rádl, chairman of the YMCA in Prague and the founder of the Czechoslovak League for Human Rights, had been interested in creating a strong mass following, he might have become a real challenge to President Masaryk's popularity. Despite the fact that Rádl's name and legacy have fallen into oblivion, he remains an inspiration to many supporters of the semi-illegal human-rights movement in Czechoslovakia today, such as the members of Charter of 77.2 Less well known today is Premysl Pitter, who was an active member of IFOR. He was a deeply motivated anti-militarist inspired by Tolstoy and the Bible, who was arrested and sentenced during World War I for conscientious objection to military service. After the war he founded a humanitarian organization that cared for neglected children in Prague. He continued to write articles in which he defended refusal to conscription on conscientious and religious grounds. When he was arrested and charged, Romain Rolland wrote on Pitter's behalf to President Masaryk-but to no avail.
