The Shop on Main Street

Trade on the Corse takes place during the Second World War in the small town of Sabinov in Slovakia. The basic motif of the novel is the dilemma of the protagonist, the carpenter Tóny Brtek (played in the film by Jozef Kroner), whether he can resist the evil embodied by the anti-Jewish laws and their enforcers - the fascists of Hlinka - and resist the advantageous chance that is offered to him: to gain status and wealth at the expense of another person, a deaf haberdashery owner, the Jewish Rozalie Lautmann (played in the film by Ida Kaminská). Tóno Brtko, under pressure from his wife and his high-ranking brother-in-law, obtains a decree of appropriation for the business and property of Mrs Lautmann. In spite of its unprofitability, the business remains and continues to believe in traditional values - respect for old age and work. She protects the old lady from the rest of the world and the Nazi danger. Soon, however, the day will come when all the Jews will be summoned to the transport...