Story perspectives
From Czechoslovakia to Singapore: A Family's Escape Story
12/15/2025
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Story summary
- In early 1939, the Sträussler family fled Czechoslovakia with help from Jan Antonín Bata, CEO of Bata Shoes.
- Bata provided escape tickets, giving Dr. Gellert a Singapore ticket and Sträussler a Nairobi ticket.
- Sträussler swapped his ticket with Dr. Gellert, sending his family to Singapore.
- Marta and the boys escaped before the city fell.
- Marta later married Major Kenneth Stoppard, and their son became the playwright Tom Stoppard.
