* recorded in the personal card:
Jan Hoza attended a burgher school and also an industrial continuing or apprentice school. When he joined the company, he quickly became a driver for Tomas Bata. He was his driver in the following years as well, even in an accident that was not his fault on the way from Otrokovice, when Tomas Bata was seriously injured and since then had a significant scar on his forehead. In 1914, Hoza travelled to the USA and worked there for years in factories. In the years 1919-1920, he helped Tomas Bata during his short stay in the USA. Shortly thereafter, Hoza returned to Zlín and was a welcome addition to the Bata company. He applied his experience from the USA in Zlín and started working for the company in the wood processing industry. In a short time, Tomas Bata gave him a new task – to build a rubber industry, first the production of rubber shoes, and then also tires. Cooperation with Hoza led to the long-term predominance of Bata rubber footwear in the world. At the end of 1938, when the company was preparing to move its operations to countries safe from Hitler, John Hoza, thanks to his previous experience, was preparing for his next assignment in the USA. Hoza was at the head of building the new Bata factory in Belcamp, which was a priority for the company. But apart from that, Hoza also spent time with Jan Antonín Bata, who intended to create the company's headquarters there and appointed Hoza as his chief assistant. At the beginning of 1941, J. A. Bata had to leave the USA and John Hoza could thus take care of Belcamp more; in 1943 he accepted Tomas Bata junior's offer to collaborate. He completed his work at the Bata company with a long-term management of the factory in Belcamp.
(SOkA Zlín, o. č. 3784, p. č. 2)
How John Hoza and Tomas Bata met
Bata’s car was locked for most of the time in the factory garage with the order that only its owner could drive it. Its washing and cleaning were considered a privilege and an expression of trust, which was given only to reliable apprentices in engineering. One day, the then manager of the factory was called to the phone. Tomas Bata was calling from Brno, where he had gone by train to do business. "Mr. Blažek, arrange for my car to be ready for the journey tomorrow." Manager Blažek called Jan Hoza, the most capable mechanical apprentice at the time, and ordered him, with the strictness with which the authorities dealt with apprentices at the time, to immediately prepare the car for departure. Jan Hoza set to work with enthusiasm and he was not satisfied with just the cleaning. He cranked the magnet, started the engine, set the throttle, engaged reverse gear, drove out of the garage and drove around the factory yard. This behaviour did not go unnoticed by the porter's wife, who ran out of breath to the administrator's office and told him what she had seen. "How dare you," the administrator started at Jan Hoza, then fifteen years old: "Who allowed you to do that? You will pay a fine of two crowns and be glad that I won't fire you." However, this case was too serious for administrator Blažek to keep to himself. He telephoned Tomas in Brno and their conversation (allegedly) went as follows: "Are you saying that Jan Hoza drove my car around the yard?" - "Yes, boss, but I have already arranged it with him. I gave him a fine, so neither he nor anyone else will touch the car again." - "How much did you fine him?" - "Two crowns." - "Mr. Blažek, call Hoza and tell him to come to the factory tomorrow in a formal suit. Order him to go to Kojetín to the station in the afternoon and wait there for the midnight express train that will come from Brno. I want him to take me to Zlín immediately." - "Mr. Boss, for God's sake..." - "Did you say that he started the car by himself and drove it around the yard alone?" - "Yes, he did." - "So, let him drive around the yard again before he goes to Kojetín." The handset clicked and the conversation was over. "When I arrived in Kojetín, the sun was already before sunset," said John Hoza afterwards. He left Zlín early and it was a challenge for him to find the road and the station. That's why he wanted to drive when there was light. The express train arrived on time and the boss got out of the car as usual without his hat. He asked Hoza if he had dinner. He said no and that he didn't even have lunch. "Then we'll go to the Schiebls," said Bata, and so they drove to his married sister Anna's house. They were already getting ready for bed, but Anna made omelettes with bacon. They left at about two in the morning and reached Zlín sometime around three. When they put the car in the garage, Tomas asked what fine the administrator Blažek had given him for disobedience. Hoza said that he had to pay two crowns. Bata took out his wallet and first gave him twenty crowns for the car ride and then two crowns to pay the fine. He then told him to wash the car the next day, oil it and make sure it was always ready for a ride - and that he would be his driver.
