Business under the Star of David
Audiobook
Business under the Star of David
Stories of oppressed Jews
The stories of the Jewish families in this book not only have historical value, but often read like epic dramas. Their success was due to sacrifice and hard work, but then they were all swept away by the whirlwind of historical events: First the Nazis came out against them, and then the survivors faced new harshness from the Communists.
Time has obscured the historical fact of the significant contribution of Jewish magnate families to the industrial boom and the spread of the reputation of the First Republic. The Kolbens, Bondy's and Petschks of Prague, the Poppers of Chrudim, the Tugendhats and Löw-Beers of Brno, the names of Jindřich Waldes and Josef Auerbach. It's good to be reminded, that behind the creation of Prague drummer residences, now mostly used by foreign embassies, behind the palace in the center of the capital, The villas admired for their architectural exclusivity hid the hard work and courage of individuals, their business talent. For example, in Chrudim, top quality shoes were made, which were in demand all over the world. The name Bondy is connected not only with the development of the iron industry, but also with the foundations of Czech aviation. That Emil Kolben worked on the elite team of the brilliant Edison. That a simple snap, a trifle ridiculous, brought Waldes' Kooh-i-noorce worldwide fame. That the influence of the movie mogul Auerbach reached all the way to the Mecca of film, American Hollywood. Most of these entrepreneurs were also famous as philanthropists. In addition, they created well-thought-out social programmes for their employees.
Pavel Kosatik's lively and sophisticated language style contributes most to the telling of these family sagas. It is thus non-fiction that can be read in one breath.
Pavel Kosatik
(1962) graduated in legal history from the Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague, 1984. He worked as a publishing editor (Čs. writer, co-founder of the publishing house. Who is who, etc. ). In the first half of the 1990s he worked in newspapers (MF Dnes - editor, editor; Reflex - deputy editor-in-chief), later he was editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Národní 3. Author of thirty books, mostly on modern Czech history, biographical (T. G. Masaryk, Jan Masaryk, Ferdinand Peroutka, Pavel Tigrid, Pavel Kohout, Věra Čáslavská, Emil Zátopek ad. ) and essays (Czech Dreaming, Slovak Century, etc. ). Screenwriter of a number of TV documentaries for Czech Television and feature films, the nine-part series The Czech Century (CT 2013-2014), and the film Conversations with TGM (2018). Winner of the Ferdinand Peroutka Award, the Tom Stoppard Award, the Miroslav Ivanov Award, etc.
Práh s.r.o., Patočkova 2386/85, 16900 Praha 6 - Břevnov, Česká republika, 233 356 761, www.prah.cz, [email protected]
