Wishing to enter the growing classical music market, Mercury executives realized that radio stations and governments in formerly Nazi-occupied countries held a gold mine in superb performances by Europe's top musicians. Hammond's and Hall's objective was to acquire these assets for Mercury. Hammond had hired Hall, "a well-known authority on classical recording, to handle the considerable job of cataloging Czech and German material. He was known and respected by the Czechs, who were interested in establishing an international records archive. David would be an asset in delicate negotiations" (Hammond 1977, 282). Hall and Hammond left Prague one step ahead of Soviet forces as they crushed Czechoslovakia's democratic government.