sperate refugees, many of them Jews fleeing persecution at the hands of the Nazis. Two years after Canada introduced its new exclusionary immigration policy, the National Socialists seized power in Germany and began waging ruthless warfare against Jews and other minorities, such as Pacifists, Communists, Gypsies, and Freemasons. The persecution of the Jews was particularly savage, especially after the German invasion of Austria in March 1938. Thousands of the Jews who managed to escape the Nazi tide sought refuge in Canada, but by and large, their appeals were ignored. In 1938, this country stalled for months before accepting an invitation to a refugee conference at Evian, France, because it knew that attendance implied an interest in liberalizing immigration laws and admitting substantial numbers of Jews and this the government was not prepared to do. Few Europeans fleeing Nazi oppression in the 1930's managed to gain admission to Canada. One of the persons who did was Thomas Bata, the man who went on to build a global shoe empire that today employees thousands of people and plays an important role in the economies of many developing countries.
             Born into a shoe making company family in Ziln, Czechosl
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