Today's town of Gweru in Zimbabwe was called Gwelo in the 1940s. Originally it was mainly a farming town, but thanks to its strategic location near the railway, it began to develop rapidly. In fact, various international businesses, including Baťa, a worldfamous shoe company from Czechoslovakia, moved to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia at that time. 700 workers, mostly local, found work in the newly built factory, working on specialised machinery from Zlín. Within two years, their number had almost tripled. In addition to the machines, however, the company from Czechoslovakia also sent management. Among them was František Jakubec. Zuzana Botiková met with his son, Brian Jakubec, who has been living in Slovakia for almost three years now.
In the interview you can hear:
how was František Jakubec brought up within the Baťa schooling system
what was the Czechoslovak childhood in Rhodesia like
how do the replicas of the factory in Zlín look around the world, as well as in Slovakia
how is Brian Jakubec finding his way to modern-day Slovakia, having been here few times in the past
brian jakubec interview Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
Jakubec family
Brian Jakubec and his brothers visiting Czechoslovakia
Brian Jakubec in RSI studio
