Searching for Family in the Shadows of War
Jan Beránek sets out to find out what happened to his granduncle, Silvestr Němec, who left his Czech village for Singapore in 1938 and died as a volunteer during WWII. He finds Silvestr’s story woven with that of the Bata Shoe Company, the Czechoslovak community and volunteer forces in Singapore.
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What Jan Talked About
01:31 – Introduction to the podcast and Bata’s Singapore history
02:07 – Silvestr Němec’s disappearance
02:29 – Jan Beránek’s research journey
03:26 – Family memories
04:37 – The post-war search for Silvestr
05:49 – Discovery of family letters in 2017
07:25 – Motivation for beginning the investigation
08:45 – How Silvestr was sent to Singapore by Bata
09:20 – Silvestr’s job at Bata’s flagship store
10:05 – Bata’s international success and localisation
11:42 – Bata’s early operations and expansion in Malaya
13:17 – What made Bata successful
14:11 – The Czechoslovak community in Malaya
14:55 – Czechoslovaks’ impressions of colonial Singapore
16:35 – Czechoslovakia during WWII and Bata’s wartime challenges
22:26 – Silvestr’s service in the Volunteer Corps
24:44 – What happened to Silvestr
28:37 – Jan’s research process and reflections
36:07 – The number of Bata shoes Jan owns
36:58 – Family history is…
About the Guest
Jan Beránek is a Czech environmentalist and an energy expert. He was born and raised in the Czech city of Brno, where he studied physics and sociology. Jan has worked for several environmental organisations and was also the chairman of the Czech Green Party. He currently lives in Amsterdam, working for Greenpeace International as Director for Organizational Strategy and Development. He is the author of In Search of Silvestr: Unravelling My Granduncle's Fate, Bata, Czechoslovaks and World War II in Singapore (Landmark Books, 2025).
Resources
Jan Beránek, In Search of Silvestr: Unravelling My Granduncle's Fate, Bata, Czechoslovaks and World War II in Singapore (Singapore: Landmark Books, 2025).
Jan Beránek, “In Search of Silvestr,” BiblioAsia (April 2025).
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Jan for coming on the show.
About the Podcast
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library Singapore.