Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia (PWU, Polish: State Armament Factories) was a Polish state-owned industrial conglomerate. Formed in 1927, the company quickly became the largest defence contractor of inter-war Poland.[1] The company was state-owned. It was governed by the 9-member Administrative Council and the Director, both directly subordinate to the Minister of Military Affairs.[2] Among the factories belonging to the PWU were:[1]
- Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów ("State Rifle Factory", Warsaw)[2]
- Państwowa Fabryka Broni ("State Arms Factory", Radom)[2]
- Państwowa Fabryka Sprawdzianów ("State Test Equipment Factory", Warsaw)[2]
- Państwowa Fabryka Amunicji ("State Munitions Factory", Skarżysko-Kamienna)[2]
| Company type | P.P. |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Centralny Zarząd Wytwórni Wojskowych |
| Founded | 1927 |
| Defunct | 1939 |
| Fate | Destroyed by Germany in World War II |
| Headquarters | |
| Total assets |
|
Number of employees | 12,000 |
| Subsidiaries | FK, FB, FS, FA, FA nr. 2 |
The company was also one of the major investors in the Central Industrial Area. In 1937 it started building the State Munitions Factory No. 2 in Dąbrowa-Bór near Kraśnik and State Munitions Factory No. 5 in Jawidz near Lubartów.[1] The construction was hampered by the outbreak of World War II.
Following the start of the war and the German occupation of Poland, most of the assets of PWU were confiscated by the Germans.[1] The Polish government in exile "temporarily suspended" the Board of Directors of the PWU concern until the end of the war.[3] In 1944 and 1945 most of the factories belonging to the PWU were completely destroyed.[1] Some were later rebuilt, but the company itself was not reactivated after the war.[1]
References
editNotes
editBibliography
edit- PWN (corporate author). "Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia". Słownik Ekonomiczny PWN (in Polish). Warsaw: Polish Scientific Publishers PWN.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|author=has generic name (help) - (in Polish) Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 15 lutego 1940 r. w sprawie przedsiębiorstwa „Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia w Warszawie" [Act of the Council of Ministers of February 15th, 1940, on the "Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia w Warszawie" company], Dz. U., 1940, vol. 5, No. 13 (1940-03-07) [eprints.hist.pl/113/1/1940-03-07_nr5.pdf archive]
- Tadeusz Wojciechowski (1974). "Zespół akt przedsiębiorstwa "Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia"" (PDF). Biuletyn Wojskowej Służby Archiwalnej (in Polish). 6. Warsaw: Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe. ISSN 0137-5547. OCLC 826626186. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
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