Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia (PWU, pl, 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.
[PWN (corporate author), p. 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
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...
.
Among the factories belonging to the PWU were:
*
Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów
Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów ( en, State Rifle Factory, often abbreviated FK) was a Polish arms manufacturer active between the two World Wars. Founded in 1919 as the successor to the pre-World War I Gerlach i Pulst company, Fabryka Karabinów ...
("State Rifle Factory", Warsaw)
[Wojciechowski, pp. 1-11]
*
Państwowa Fabryka Broni ("State Arms Factory", Radom)
*
Państwowa Fabryka Sprawdzianów ("State Test Equipment Factory", Warsaw)
*
Państwowa Fabryka Amunicji ("State Munitions Factory", Skarżysko-Kamienna)
The company was also one of the major investors in the
Central Industrial Area The Central Industrial District ( pl, Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy, abbreviated COP), is an industrial region in Poland. It was one of the biggest economic projects of the Second Polish Republic. The 5-year-long project was initiated by a famous Po ...
. In 1937 it started building the
State Munitions Factory No. 2 in
Dąbrowa-Bór near
Kraśnik and State Munitions Factory No. 5 in
Jawidz
Jawidz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Spiczyn
__NOTOC__
Gmina Spiczyn is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Łęczna County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. Its seat is the village of Spiczyn, which lies appro ...
near
Lubartów
Lubartów () is a town in eastern Poland, with 23,000 inhabitants (2004), situated in Lublin Voivodeship. It is the capital of Lubartów County and the Lubartów Commune. Historically it belongs to Lesser Poland.
Lubartów was established in 154 ...
.
The construction was hampered by the outbreak of World War II.
Following the start of the war and the
German occupation of Poland
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, most of the assets of PWU were confiscated by the Germans.
The
Polish government in exile
The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
"temporarily suspended" the Board of Directors of the PWU concern until the end of the war.
["Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów...", p. 15] In 1944 and 1945 most of the factories belonging to the PWU were completely destroyed.
Some were later rebuilt, but the company itself was not reactivated after the war.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
prints.hist.pl/113/1/1940-03-07_nr5.pdf archive*
Defence companies of Poland
Firearm manufacturers of Poland
Defunct manufacturing companies of Poland
Manufacturing companies established in 1927
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1939
1927 establishments in Poland
1939 disestablishments in Poland
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