TURMOIL IN THE EAST BLOC : Communist Hero Gottwald: Now, the Wrong Side of History : Czechoslovakia: In 1948, he led the Communists to power. The town named for him now is reverting to its old name.

Klement Gottwald’s statue still stands on the town green here, looking out over the rolling hills of the Moravian countryside, but the father of Czechoslovak communism is about to be buried by an invasion of capitalist shoe leather.

As leader of the coup that brought communism to full power in Czechoslovakia in February, 1948, Gottwald has been an official state hero since his death in 1953. His picture, often surrounded by the motto “First Worker’s President,” was hung in government buildings, and his wisdom was an important topic of state textbooks.

All that came to an abrupt end three weeks ago. Today, Gottwald is on the wrong side of history, and the new heroes are foreign investors, whom the Czechoslovaks are counting on for the money they need to revive their economy.

One such prominent potential investor, Thomas Bata, an emigre Czech now based in Canada, is due to arrive here today. After meeting Friday with virtually the entire leadership of the country, he plans over the weekend to visit this town, about 150 miles southeast of Prague, from which his family once ran one of Europe’s largest shoe-making empires.

Czechoslovakia’s new authorities have an announcement planned to coincide with Bata’s visit: Gottwaldov is getting back its old name, Zlin.

The name change is not the only indignity that Gottwald is facing these days. The 100-crown notes with his portrait, on which youngsters draw mustaches, are being discontinued. And his museum in central Prague is likely to close soon.

In fact, residents here say, only officials have ever called this place “Gottwaldov.” Even Stanislav Micik, a trusted party member who is deputy director of the giant state-owned Svit enterprise that took over the Bata holdings in 1948, slipped when asked where he grew up.

“In a small town outside Zlin,” he said.

Asked if he would have given the same answer a month ago, Micik laughed. “I can’t say I wouldn’t have been more careful,” he said.

That new lack of caution in everyday speech is one of the major changes here. Another is illustrated by the way the country is preparing to handle Bata’s visit.

Bata’s aides have spent hours speaking with Vaclav Havel, the leader of the opposition group Civic Forum, at a time when Havel has been deeply involved in resolving the political deadlock over his candidacy to become president.

And when Bata arrives, he will be treated with the sort of pomp normally reserved for a visiting head of state. Already, his visit has been widely heralded on state radio and television. The welcome shows how eager the Czechoslovaks are for investment capital and some of the things they are willing to overlook to get it.

The Bata family ran a hugely successful but deeply paternalistic enterprise here. Thomas Bata’s father, also named Thomas, had his office placed in a huge wood-paneled elevator in the company’s 15-story main factory building.

From his desk, the elder Bata could command his elevator office, which still works, to move up and down from floor to floor, opening the door to sally forth for surprise inspection visits.

The company built housing for its workers, but insisted on strictly controlling the lives of those who stayed there.

“I remember life under the Batas,” said Miroslav Fafilek, who has spent his life here and works in the state enterprise that took over the Bata factory in 1948. “We all had to wear uniforms that had a button with a ‘B’ on it. We worked until 7. At 9, we had to be in our rooms, standing at attention. A man would come along, and we would have to pull down our trousers for them to see if we were clean.”

The Bata family left Czechoslovakia in 1939, after Hitler began taking over the country. Although their holdings here were nationalized, the rest of the Bata operations remain in private hands. The family empire, with more than 600 shoe stores and factories scattered through low-wage developing countries across the globe, is one of the largest shoemakers in the world.

For nearly three years, Czechoslovak authorities have been holding “very complex” discussions with Bata officials, seeking capital to modernize their industry, according to Micik, Svit’s deputy director for research and development.

Svit, Micik estimated, needs some $300 million in modernization funds over the next five years. Lack of investment until now has left him with obsolete machinery, averaging 25 years old. The plant runs at only 60% of capacity, he said.

Even so, Svit remains one of Eastern Europe’s biggest suppliers of shoes, turning out 64 million pairs a year--everything from dress shoes to army boots. The company is also one of Czechoslovakia’s more successful exporters.

Much of the production is sold to the Soviet Union, Poland and East Germany. But, said Micik, the company devotes its “best workers” and high-technology machines to producing the 10% of its output that is exported to the West to earn badly needed hard currency.

“There has been a period of stagnation,” Micik said. “In the future, we will work on a different economic system.”