Five descendants of world-known Czech shoemaker Jan Antonín Baťa are claiming for compensation for Bata's property which was unjustly confiscated after he was accused of collaboration with the Nazis. However, archive documents showed that Bata did just the opposite. His firms financially supported the wartime Czechoslovak exile government in London and sent tens of thousands of pounds or dollars to anti-Nazi actions. In light of the new circumstances, the court cancelled the verdict and cleared Bata’s name 60 years later in 2007.
Tomáš Pecina, who represents Baťa’s family that lives in the USA, told the CTK press agency that after the relevant documents were gathered, he would send a compensation claim to the Slovak Finance Ministry. The five descendants, who live in South America, seek financial compensation for confiscated immovable property in Partizánske, Svit, and some other towns. Among the property is also Bojnice castle which itself is worth more than €300 million. However, the family does not want the property back but claims financial compensation which they plan to invest in Slovakia and therefore continue in Baťa’s footsteps.
Learn more about the Baťa family later in the show.
Lucia Pazičová
