Waterford Crystal founder and ex-Nazi prisoner Charles Bacik honoured
The founder of Waterford Crystal, who survived Nazi concentration camps before finding refuge in Ireland, has been honoured in his adopted city.
Descendants who came from Belgium, London and Dublin for the day said the Ukraine crisis brought home to them the "perseverance and courageousness" required by Charles Bacik when he arrived in Waterford as a refugee from Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of the Second World War.
His granddaughter Ivana Bacik, the Labour Party leader, said the family was "blown away from the generosity of spirit" by the willingness to celebrate him in Waterford.
"The first sod was turned in Ballytruckle in April 1947 with the then mayor of Waterford present," she said, standing beside the current wearer of the chain.
"There was a huge contribution made by the company to the city, region and beyond," Ms Bacik added.
At its height, the company employed 3,500 people in Waterford. It dominated the economic life of Waterford for decades, according to Mayor of Waterford Joe Kelly, who worked in the factory for 36 years.
"There's a huge spirit attached to Waterford Crystal. It provided an excellent living for not only me but thousands of Waterford families," he said. "It's about wages, [it's] about good conditions. It was never totally about profit, there was a real community of spirit."
A monument was unveiled outside the House of Waterford Crystal building on The Mall in the city centre. Made from laser-cut stainless steel, it was designed by An Rinn-based artist Eithne Ring and Liam Lavery and based on a Waterford Crystal cut glass pattern.
Born in 1910 in the western Czech region of Bohemia, Bacik graduated from university in Prague and became a businessman in Svetla in the 1930s. His family said he became involved in the Czech resistance but was soon imprisoned by the Nazis.
With the end of the war, he fell foul of the post-war Communist regime and had his factories seized. He and his wife Edith fled the country with their four children and arrived first in Tramore, then taking up residence in the city nearby.
Charles Bacik's son Henry recalled the "hard times" his family had when they fled their homeland.
"The more I think of Ukraine, I feel how courageous both father and mother were, coming here. We had a few resources but they came with suitcases and four young children from 12 down to two."
He set about building a factory with the man credited as co-founder, chief designer Miroslav Havel.
However it could have been 'Carlow Crystal' rather than the world-renowned Waterford, Henry said.
"We called our house [in Waterford] Karlov, where we were from. It was rather similar to Carlow and father had thoughts of settling in Carlow but no, he chose correctly and settled in Waterford."
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