Georgina Steinsky

"The only thing we can do here is to take a smaller factory and create retail chains and import shoes to the Czech Republic. That's how the concept of the returning started. 22 stores and then more. Then was the second part of the debate. Tomas wanted it back and didn't want to pay for it. We negotiated with Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Vlasák and Minister of Industry Mr. Vrba. We cannot abolish Beneš's decrees. I understood that. So, the only way how to do it was that we would price it and you would buy it back. Which we finally did, and in December 1991, a contract was signed. They kept a 30% share for 5 years and one small factory, which was never Baťa´s, somewhere in Moravia. This is how the Baťa company started operating here." (01:20:55 - 01:22:50).

"So, I was lucky to work in the state administration for 17 years, I worked not only in that history, but in the policies of medium and small businesses, in economic affairs and I was finally the first woman on such a post in the 80s. There were about 5 of us in total. I became the Deputy Minister of a large ministry. We were in charge of purchasing for the state administration, administrative services. So, I had a very interesting job for those 17 years, but it didn't affect my Czech roots at all." (45:43 -46:54)

"There was a day when we secretly met as a family in Prague. We came by train. There was a delay. Each one of us had two suitcases. We were travelling already at night. The smuggler was afraid, he had all the guards bribed. He was afraid they would change the shift. We were travelling by a box truck. He let us out about 500 meters before the border. My cousin and I had a cough, they gave us some medicine so we wouldn't cough when we were crossing the border. We were walking and my mom froze completely. She stopped. She realized what was happening that she leaves her homeland. And she told me later that I actually saved her when I saw everyone moving forward. Mom, Mom we have to go, they are getting ahead of us. When I pulled her hand, somehow she got out of that fear and we went to that Germany." (09:35 - 12:07).