Państwowe Wytwórnie Uzbrojenia (PWU, ) 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, governed by the 9-member Administrative Council and the Director, both directly subordinate to the
Minister of Military Affairs.
Among the factories belonging to the PWU were:
*
Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów
Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów (, 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 became part of the sta ...
("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 (, 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 Polish economist, deputy Prime Minis ...
. In 1937 it started building the
State Munitions Factory No. 2 in
Dąbrowa-Bór
Dąbrowa-Bór () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kraśnik, within Kraśnik County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately north of Kraśnik and south-west of the regional capital Lublin
Lublin is Lis ...
near
Kraśnik
Kraśnik is a town in southeastern Poland with 35,602 inhabitants (2012), situated in the Lublin Voivodeship, historic Lesser Poland. It is the seat of Kraśnik County. The town of Kraśnik as it is known today was created in 1975, after the mer ...
and State Munitions Factory No. 5 in
Jawidz 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, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, 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 (), was the government in exile
A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...
"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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