One of the most renowned brands associated with Canada is Bata Shoes, which was transformed into a global retail leader during the period when the headquarters of Bata was in Canada (between 1945-2004). However, very few Canadians are aware that one of the co-owners of Bata Shoes, and the man behind the early success of this company, Jan Antonin Bata, was labelled until recently a convicted fascist collaborator in his own homeland, Czechoslovakia - nowadays Czech Republic and Slovakia. This has been overturned in 2007, but Slovakia is reluctant to correct the legal consequences of the original decision.
Jan Bata was convicted in 1947 in absentia despite the fact that during WWII he covertly saved most of his Jewish employees in Bata subsidiaries outside of German occupied territories, as well as his substantial financial support for the anti-fascist Czechoslovak government during in exile (in London).
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