English Translation

In addition, a larger number of cigarettes were handed over to German soldiers as part of official registrations. In the years 1940-43, the Slovak Bata company delivered 1 754 000 pairs of shoes in the value of RM 7 77l Ol4.- to the Reich, while delivery of the year 1944 is still to be seen. It cannot be overlooked that the Slovak Bata-lerke have always asserted their influence with the Slovak authorities in the intergovernmental trade treaty negotiations in the sense of a maximum possible allocation for the Reich. The Slovak Bata works have only recently received a complaint from the Slovak authorities insofar as they have incorporated large quantities of such Slovak raw materials from their own stocks into the consignments to the Reich which the Reich should have made available. The Slovak Bata-Gesellsohaft has thus been placed in an unacceptable position, and deliveries of timber from Slovakia to the Reich are also likely to be partly due to efforts by the Dutch Bata A.G. In the armaments sector, the Slovak Bata A.G, too, has been successful in Slovakia if the relevant protectorate equipment companies have not succeeded in creating the wood themselves. German management cannot claim that they would have pushed the Alovak Bata company into any visual direction if it had not been able to protect itself.