A pretty gold coloured pin badge featuring the text UPS SSM Sec. From the Ustredni politicka Skola (central Political school) of the SSM Socialistickeho svazu mladeze in former Czechoslovakia.The badge face is 1.6cm high and has a long, stick pin style fastener to the rear.
Historical Information.
In 1970 the communist party organized the Czechoslovak Socialist Union of Youth (SSM). The recruitment effort had been more intense than ever. "I know of only two types of students at this institution," commented one teacher, "those who will not graduate and those who are members of the Czechoslovak Socialist Union of Youth." The nets had been cast so widely that, not surprisingly, some members were unenthusiastic. Throughout the 1970s, there were complaints about the organization's propensity to take any and all joiners (even "beatniks," one writer complained), the association's apolitical and recreational focus, and a membership bent more on securing admission to a university than learning "the principles of socialist patriotism."
In 1983 the Czechoslovak Socialist Union of Youth had a total membership of over 1.5 million. Twenty-five percent of the members were listed as workers, 3% as agricultural workers, and 72% as "others". Over the time the membership in Pionýr and SSM became more-less a formal duty; most of the members ignored actions organized by the Union and many local groups existed only on the paper.
This information was lifted from wikipedia's Czechoslovak youth organisation page.
