Elektrit

Elektrit Radiotechnical Society (Polish: Towarzystwo Radiotechniczne „ELEKTRIT”) was the largest privately owned company in Wilno, Second Republic of Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) (1925–39).[1]

Elektrit
IndustryManufacturing
Founded1925
Defunct1939
HeadquartersWilno, Second Republic of Poland
ProductsRadio receivers
RevenueUS$1 million
Number of employees
1100
Elktrit factory in 1938

With over 1100 workers, the society produced approximately 50 thousand radio receivers annually.[1] A large percentage of the production was exported abroad, mostly to Sweden, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.[1] The annual turnover exceeded 1 million US dollars.[1] Elektrit proved to be a very successful company and soon became the leading Radio Company in Poland.

Following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Wilno was occupied by the Soviet Union and the company was nationalized.[1] In 1940 the factory was hastily dismantled and transported to Minsk, where the "Vyacheslav Molotov" Radio Factory was set up.[1] After the war the plant was renamed Minsk Radio and Television Association "Horizont" (Horizon). It produced "Minsk" radio receivers, being a copy of the Polish pre-war model but with Soviet tube set.

The former buildings in Vilnius were used for the Kailis forced labor camp during the German occupation[2] and by a secret Soviet radio technics factory of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, known as PO Box 555.[3]

References
  1. Roman Stinzing; Eugeniusz Szczygieł; Henryk Berezowski (2000). Złote lata radia w II Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Nowy Sącz: V.I.D.I. ISBN 83-909628-6-1.
  2. Guzenberg, Irina (2 July 2008). "Vilniaus geto darbo stovyklos ir 1942 m. gyventojų surašymas" (in Lithuanian). The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  3. Dumalakas, Arūnas (2014-10-05). "Sostinės Naujamiestis – vieta, kurioje sustojo laikas" (in Lithuanian). Lrytas.lt. Archived from the original on 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-05-01.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.