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Full Description
In 2017, I started my research on the fate of my granduncle Silvestr Němec,
a young Czech employed by the Bata Shoe Company in Singapore, who
volunteered to fight the Japanese when they invaded Singapore during World
War II. He went missing in 1942 and was involved in two historic events of
the Fall of Singapore: the battle of Bukit Chandu and the Alexandra Hospital
massacre.
Over time, the quest produced a whole collection of stories that spanned a
century and across continents, covering not just Silvestr's life but also the Bata
company in the Far East, other Czechoslovaks who lived in Singapore before
and during World War II, as well as my own journey of discovery.
I must say that not even in my wildest dreams did I expect that my research
would take me so far. On many occasions - such as when I was studying how
Bata organised his business, or what other Batamen captured in their diaries,
letters and articles about their work and life in Singapore in 1930s - I was
vividly picturing Silvestr in those contexts and situations.
My book about my granduncle Silvestr was first published in Czech in
October 2020, and now it is avaialble in English.
