By John Nash
"You all know about the chief's attitude in the prewar years. Sure, all we Batamen, from the chief to the last man in the ranks of the industrial Empire anywhere were Czech patriots.[1]”
“When the Munich crisis cam near and the government could not procure money for armament by loans - a Defense Donation Action was started. The Governor of the National Bank who initiated this drive was very pessimistic whether it would bring more than 300 million Kc (Czech Crowns). Then he called on the Chief, Jan A. Bata. The chief called on you in turn to support and promised to give as much as you all over the world would donate. In one day a 30 million Kc. donation was collected. The Defense Donation Action was oversubscribed with 1,500 million during five days.[2]”
“It was a pity that Prof. Dr. K. Englis, then governor of the National Bank has not been called as a witness in Jan A. Bata's trial in May [of] 1947 to confirm this before the National Court.[3]”
“When the subscription of funds for the national defense seemed unsuccessful, it was Jan A. Bata with his workers who came to the rescue and won the battle by giving the example of contributing 30 millions. [The] Minister[s] thanked me with tears in their eyes.[4]”
“Nobody could protest for this was true and generally known.[5]”
“The Jan Bata and his extraordinary organization were a key part of the drive for funds to defend the Czech Republic. Thanks to those efforts, more than 1.5 billion Czech Crowns were raised.[6]"
To give the readers an idea how significant Bata's effort in defense of the republic was, we have calculated the money raised through Bata's efforts. It is unprecedented how how big an effort this was. The Defense Donation Act raised an equivalent of $9,932,069,425 in current U.S. Dollars.
Bata’s and his employees donated $198,641,388 to the Czech defense. This means that Jan A. Bata’s personal contribution to the defense of Czechoslovakia in today’ currency equals nearly one-hundred-million U.S. dollars.
For all of his efforts on behalf of the Czech people, Jan Antonin Bata remains an unrecognized patriot.
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Source: Justice for Jan A. Bata, Czech Struggle for Freedom (Excerpt)
… at all. I always helped, to the best of my ability the Government and warned the politicians against resolutions of a weakening character. Between 1936 and 1938 we produced all the military authorities demanded. When, in 1936, the General Head Quarters urged the accumulation of raw material reserves, many wealthy families fled abroad with their property. Bata was not afraid to accumate hundreds of millions worth od raw materials in the threatened country. The English reproached me bitterly, when in 1940, this raw material fell into German hands. When the subscription of funds for national defense seemed unsuccessful, it was Jan A. Bata with his workers who came to the rescue and won the battle by giving the example of contributing 30 millions. Minister thanked me with tears in their eyes.
[1] Jan A. Bata Archives, 1948
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Justice for Jan A. Bata, Czech Struggle for Freedom, Oct 9, 1948
[5] Jan A. Bata Archives, 1948
[6]Ibid.
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The Stormy Years of an Extraordinary Enterprise: Bata 1932 - 1945
Batanagar’s Support for the RAF Exceeds 1 Billion U.S. Dollars
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J.Š. 28.4.2015
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