Seven Stashes of Mr. Schönbach: The Business Man's Family's Life in Communistic Regime

By Jana Dohnalova

Lets do a little test: When had been pronounced the names Jan Antonin Bata or Tomas Bata, all literary experts know who they are. When we say Rudolf Schnbach native of Cernovice in the Czech Republic, and founder of leather manufacturing in that region not even one person in several hundred have any idea about him.

In the past, however, Rudolf Schnbach was compared to Bata with regularity. They had a lot in common such as their enterprising spirits and their tirelessly pragmatic thinking. Both of them were captains of industry. Rudolf Schnbach navigated his boat around an unknown island while the luxury boat of Tomas Bata navigated to the bright big cities. Did Rudolf Schnbach pay the price of being loyal to his own region because he started his business out of the way in Cernovice u Tabora?

This book has been written in order to remind people about the life of a person, who, in only a few decades became the moving power behind organizing the life in that region. The story of Rudolf Schnbachs life is not just a regional story. It is the story that characterizes that historic time before and after the Second World War with clear common validity. It is a story that contains moral aspects relevant to today. The story of the life of the Cernovicky and Bata has been told basically from the memory of Jozef Hrdlicka, Schnbachs friend from childhood. A smaller part of the story has come together through historic documents and newspaper articles from the poisonous communistic times in the 1950s. This work is not strictly a historical scientific study, but it is more about remembering a highly admirable person, who demonstrated strength and focus while fighting against his disease, limiting conditions, and history.

The factory which he founded is still there a quiet witness to the memory of all the changes. The factory is again in private hands. We can only feel pity that it is not in a Schnbachs hands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Oct 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491880593

Jana Dohnalova

Jana Dohnalova was born on April 7, 1975, in a small village in Czechoslovakia and grew up separate from modern technology, current information, and even other people as she lived with only her family. At that time, she started creating her first stories. When she was twenty, she made a decision to become a writer and started to study creative writing at university. That was a big deal for her. First, she abandoned the village where she had been born and started a new life in the capital, Prague. Second, her family did not want to accept her decision to become a writer. When she finished university, it was so difficult to find a job as a writer that she changed workplaces many times. She was a shop assistant, waitress, worker for an archaeology company. When she went in 2008 to London, she studied English. In the meanwhile, she published four books in Czech. This is the first book she has written in English.

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2013 by Jana Dohnalova. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/12/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8058-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8059-3 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover design made by Cinzia Manetti

Contents

Introduction

Father Schönbach

Rudolf Schönbach

Politics amongst Young People

Construction of the First Big Manufacturing Company

Initial Planning to Construct the First Leather Tanning Production Area in the Manufacturing Company

The Victorious February 1948—Crime and Punishment

The Lord Schönbach and His Seven Leather Stocks

Restitution and Death of the Last Schönbach

About the Author

Endnotes

Many thanks to Humberto Vasquez

Introduction

Let’s do a little test: When had been pronounced the names Jan Antonín Baťa or Tomáš Baťa, Czech people with a certain level of literacy know who they are. However, when we say Rudolf Schönbach—native of Černovice in the Czech Republic and founder of a leather factory in that region—not even one person in hundreds has any idea whatsoever who he was. Perhaps the number would be only just one person out of thousands or millions. Even searching Google you can find many different references if you type the surname Schönbach. There are actors sharing the same name, a hotel owner, and travel agencies which direct you to information about the beautiful village of Krásná (Schönbach u Aše) but to absolutely nothing about Rudolf Schönbach and/or his family. This seems to suggest that if something does not appear on Google, it does not exist. In the past, Rudolf Schönbach and Tomáš Baťa were often compared to each other. It is interesting to note that they were very much alike, especially in terms of character. They had a similar blend of attributes—those of an enterprising spirit and a tirelessly pragmatic way of thinking.

If both