they let him stay in his own company out of mercy. My father knew that the Communists would take his company anyway
Anna Hanzalová was born on June 7, 1953 in Jindřichův Hradec. Since childhood, she was fundamentally influenced by the work of her father František Janouch, the founder of the JAS cooperative, which produced toys all over the world. After the coup in 1948, he was given a regular job out of mercy, from which he continued to manage and innovate the operation of the workshop in Stráž nad Nežárkou. Anna Hanzalová continued her craft and distance furniture studies in Prague in Žižkov. Until 1972, František Janouch participated in the development of toys that were sold in massive numbers to Western countries. Anna Hanzalová took his place after he had left. After the Velvet Revolution, she and her husband Jan founded the rival company ANJA, where they made toys according to her and her father’s old designs. Until 2008, she worked at JAS in development. The company finally closed in 2010. Today (2022), she and her husband continue to produce toys in Stráž nad Nežárkou in small productions.