Figure 1.--A good idea as to just how modern Czechoslovakia was the Central Social Institution in Prague, a huge despository of data on the population. We are not entirely sure hiw all that data was used, but we believe tjat it was a kind of social security agency. We can see the Institutions modern filing system here in 1937. We are not sure if the NAZIs used it when they seized power (1938). The facility still exists, but the data has beem digitized.

There was in the early-20th century a huge differenced between Eastern and Western Europe. The West was more ondustrialized and modern. The East was more agriciltural and in many ays backward than the West. This could be measured in many ways, income, education, electrification, car ownership, miles of rail track and highwats, telephone onership, lice expectancy, etc. Czechoslovakia set between East and West was the mosy advanced contry in the East. It was also the only real democracy. And while thete were agricultural areas (especially Slovakia), there was alsoan important, moderm industrial base. The Škoda Works were especially important. It was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates in Europe. It was founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in Plzeň (1859). Thois was in Bohemia, at the time part of the Austrian Empire. It was the primary indusdtrialized area of the Austrao-Hungarian Empire in World War I. Prime-Minoister Chamnberlain's deciusion to bow to Hitler's demands at Munich mean that it would become an important poaty of the German war economy in Worlfd War II. Larrge numbers of tanks and artilery pieces were manufactured there. A good idea as to just how modern Czechoslovakia was the Central Social Institution in Prague, a huge despository of data on the population. We are not entirely sure hiw all that data was used, but we believe tjat it was a kind of social security agency. We can see the Institutions modern filing system here in 1937 (figure 1). We are not sure if the NAZIs used it when they seized power (1938). The facility still exists, but the data has beem digitized.

Created: 5:39 AM 10/19/2021
Last updated: 5:39 AM 10/19/2021