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SpotlightZlín - the town that Baťa built
In this edition of Spotlight,we visit the south-east Moravian town of Zlín,
a city famous for its footwear and film industries as well as for its rich
heritage of folk culture and traditional music. More
MagazineMagazine
Two unfortunate cops get a lesson in law from a man on a scooter; richest
Czech businessman buys a new jet to fly in style; an historic plane which
Jan Antonín Baťa flew around the world will return to the Czech Republic;
and US actor Tom Cruise strips to the waist during the filming of Mission
Impossible 4 in Prague. More
One on OneMike Ostler: the Bata reminiscence and resource centre in East Tilbury
East Tilbury on the Thames estuary in Essex is a piece of the old
Czechoslovakia planted in England. It was here in 1933 that the Zlín-based
shoe empire Bata opened its first English plant. As well as the factory,
the company also constructed its own small town for workers following the
Czechoslovak model. The plant lasted until 2006, but in many respects it is
still carries on. The Bata estate and factory have been designated a
conservation area. A reminiscence and resource centre was opened in 2002 to
serve as a sort of museum and focal point for the memories of this unique
community. We spoke to centre leading light Mike Ostler about its
operation, the continued links between Essex and South Moravia and why he
became involved in the first place.
More
Current AffairsCzech-born shoe magnate Thomas J. Baťa dies at 93
The famous Czech-born industrialist Thomas J. Baťa has died in Toronto,
Canada, just a few weeks short of his 94th birthday. Mr Baťa was the
former head of one of the world’s biggest footwear companies, first
founded by his father in Zlín in Moravia in 1894. News of his death
brought immediate reaction from around the world including in his native
Czech Republic, which Mr Baťa visited often – the last time just this
summer.
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Current AffairsJan Antonin Bata’s name cleared after sixty years
Jan Antonin Bata was a man of mixed fortune: a man of wealth and influence
who stood at the head a shoe empire, but also a man forced to flee his
homeland where he was labeled a Nazi collaborator and sentenced to 15 years
in prison. But now, more than four decades after his death, the Czech
judiciary has cleared his name.
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