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
About the Guest
Jan Beránek is a Czech environmentalist and 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 Chair of the Czech Green Party. He currently lives in Amsterdam, working for Greenpeace International as a 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.