Bata was not Collaborator. He may get incredible Refund
Tomas Bata, the heir of the famous Bata shoe empire from Czech town Zlin, have announced the family asks financial compensation of their property, which was confiscated in Czechoslovakia after World War II. He made the announcement shortly after his son Jan Antonin Bata, the last owner of the concern, had been cleared of collaboration charges.
Collaboration was, after the war, the reasoning for confiscation of all belongings without compensation. Now when is clear he wasn’t a collaborator, he may even get refunds for all the Czech Bata factories, which would made about a hundred million €.
Bata’s family live in Canada and Brazil. Bata shoes are sold in more than fifty countries worldwide.
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Problem with majority of Czech population is that it still doesn’t have much of a measurable degree of sense of justice, namely protection of private property.
In only 80 years of history of Czechoslovakia there were several massive campaigns in confiscation of fellow citizens’ property.
First, in early 1920’s German speaking landovners and nobility was deprived of many thousands of acres of land and forests, many residencies. But Czechs found “justification” for that. For example, they even didn’t allow children of Lady Chotkova (whom subsequently Hitler held in concentration camp and they have died withing months after WWII) from their Konopiste castle (just south of Prague).
With nazis coming, many Czechs eagerly benefited fronm the so-called “arization” of fellow Czechs of Jewish ethnicity as they were escaping the coming Holocaust. Again, Czechs felt “justified” as antisemitism was rampant (and even now is not really dead). Property of almost 300.000 fellow citizens ended in private hands (or, like arts in National Galleries).
After WWII full one third (over 3.2 million) of fellow citizens of German origin were forcibly pushed out, despitae the fact that their families often for centuries built a majority of welth and culture the Bohemia and Moravia was (and still is) so proud off. Dozens of cities, hundreds of villages, hundreds of factories, all that and more were stolen, citizens allowed to take maximum of 50 kg (about 100 lbs) of property. Again, addicted to “helping self” by robing still new groups of fellow citizens, Czechs “justified” this unprecedent robbery.
And there was more to come. Under baners of “nationalization” local Czech property owners were confiscated: from factories, apartment buildings, down to the smallest shops. Farmers were forced, again often violently, give everything to Soviet-style co-ops or government “farms”. Predictably, majority again approved, drunken with yet another looting into “common ownership”.
Then about 400.000 fellow citizens had to escape of had the courage to espape the communism. Automatic prison sentence for “criminal act of leaving the country” was year or two in prison (fortunately, mostly in absentia) and … you got it … confiscation of property, mostly a family home or an apartment, land, etc.
After collapse of communism even the supposed “rightist” and “conservative” parties and politicians like V Klaus (wannabe thatcherite) along with the communists (CPCM). Only reluctantly, with a lot of kicking and mostly Washington pushing, some of the Jewish private and communal property was returned and – despite Mr. Klaus and the CPCM resistance – many local victims of communist confiscation got their stolen property back.
Unlike Poland, Hungary, former Yugoslavia, even Slovakia, Czech Republics (again from “conservative” Klaus to communists – still maintains hostile attitudes and policies agaist exiles. Prevents them from productive participation and is adamnant about returning stolen property.
In case of Mr. Bata, situation is even more schizophrenic: On one hand Czechs and politicians now proudly claim Bata’s industrial achivement and global sucess, but they hate any idea about returning the property unjustly stolen from his family.
Czechs need to be reminded about these grave shortcomings not only because their economy is (thanks to Western investments, NATO membership etc.) doing rather well.