PRODUCTION DIFFICULTIES AT VEB FUNKWERK ZITTAU

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A007500140008-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 17, 2008
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: September 6, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
CENTRAL tNTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. 25X1
COUNTRY East Germany
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
Production Difficulties at
VEB Funkwerk Zittau
t
6 September 1955 25X1
NO. OF PAGES 4
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
This is UNEVALUATED Information
Funkwark Zittau.
1, In late 1954, activities at Funkwerk Zittau were handicapped by a serious
lack of orders. In late October 1954, the situation became even more acute
when the VEB Mssgeraetewerk Zwoenitz cancelled its production order for
accessories for the MPG 23 (tape) recorder. On account of this action, the
plant was short of work orders for the first quarter of 1955 in an amount of
1,400,000 eastmarks. As a result of the cancellation of the work order,100
laborers were to be released after 1 November 1954 and 150 more by January .
1955. Kuehn, commercial manager of Messgeraetewerk Zwoenitz, stated that t
action had become unavoidable, because the 1954 production quota of MPG 23:1
recorders had been fixed at 25,000 units, of which 15,000 were to be completed
in 1955. Since the 1955 quota was also fixed at 25,000"units, only 10,000
units had to be produced. in addition to the 15,000 carry-over from 1954, to
fulfill the quota.
2. Nbssgeraetewerk Zwoenitz had refused to increase the production of recorders
because of difficulties involved with the center machining required for this
type of production. For the planned production of MPB 23 recorders and BG 19
type recorders, a monthly total of 4,000 hours of center machining was required.
During 1954, the machining work for Messgeraetewerk Zwoenitz had been dome by
20 different plants. An additional 10,000 hours per month required to increase
the production, as requested by HV R-F-T for the benefit of Funkwerk Zittau,
could not be obtained with the personnel available in East Germany. When HV
R-F T requested all subordinate enterprises to contribute machinists to
the Zwoenitz plant, only 11 persons were declared available on a temporary
basis. An HV R-F-T commission, composed of Goette (fnu) from the HV, Wagner
(fnu) cif Stern-Radio Stassfurt, and Bartsch (fnu) of the Arnstadt Central
Laboratiry of Telecommunications, which checked the overall capabilities of the
HV ente prises,could not find any possibility in East Germany of providing ths'
machining required for additional production. The commission stated that, with 25X1
the available machinery, the precision required for tape recorders could not be
a:iivad,.
ARMY I #X NAVY
X AIR FBI AEC ORR Ear X
(Nola. Washington distribution indicated by "X"; Field
25X1
INFORMATION REPORT I N FORMAT ION REPORT
Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
 Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
3. On 21 and 22 October 1.9549a conference was held between a delegation of
Funkwerk Zittau and the HtRFT to settle the affair with Messgeraetewerk
Zwoenitz. According to the agreement reached at the conference, the 1955
production quota of Messgeraetewerk Zwoenitz of BG 19 type tape recorders was
increased from 69000 to 139000 sets, the production quota of 25,000 MfG type sets
was not changed. Funkwerk Zittau was ordered to produce the accessories. Since
Funkwerk Zittau still needed work orders for 1,300,000 - 1,400,000 DIE to fill
its production capacity, additional conferences were planned for the near future
with Rudolf Lteinze,chief of the Planning Office of the HV.
4. While the delegation from Funlogerk Zittau was in Berlin, the Plant Labor Unit
and the Labor Control Office of the plant informed the personnel by a bulletin
that the lack of work in various departments of the plant had obviously been
caused by deficiencies of the plant management, which should have foreseen such
difficulties. Since the HV &yF T was apparently not helping to investigate
these "unbearable"conditions, the Labor Control Office had called upon Minister
Rau directly to rectify the situation .
5. On 22 November 19,54, Augustin (fnu) and Prokopf (or Proskopf ), of the Control
Office of the Ministry for Machine Construction, visited P uniswerk Zittau to
investigate conditions. Subsequently,they criticized the Labor Organization,
but they did not accuse the plant management of any serious deficiencies and
violations, as had been done by the Party Organization, Labor Union and Labor
Control Office. In an internal meeting of key personnel, however, Augustin and
Prokopf stated that, the control of the plant by HV RJ T was unbelievably bad,
and that a general investigation of HV F,F-;T was urgently required,
6. On 23 Novembex 1954, it. the labor distribution contract (Betriebskollektivvertrag),
it was stated that Langer (f=), department chief of Plant I, Foereter (f=),
department chief of Plant II, and Haut (fnu), chairman of the Plant Labor Union,
had become"intolerable' and were, therefore, soon to be replaced. On 30 November
1954, the former director, Schroeder (fnu), and technical manager, Schneider (fnu),
of Funkwerk Zittau.Olbersdorf were exonerated of similar charges.
7. In order to utilize its production capacity, Funkwerk Zittau was ordered by the
HV R-F T to solicit work orders from Sachsenwerk Radeberg, Funkwerk Dresden or
Stern-Radio Rochlitz. In early November, representatives of Funkwerk Zittau
conferred at Stern Radio Rochlitz with Plant Manager Schenke (fnu) and Technical
Manager Zahm. Stern Radio Rochlitz and its branch plant in Gehringswalde, with
a total work force of about 1,200 persons, had actually more work orders than they
were able to fill. All experts considered the broadcast receivers produced by
Stern-Radio Rochlitz to be the best products of the DDR. Schenke agreed to
subcontract orders for component parts to Funkwerk Zittau, provided that that
plant would agree to the following conditions.-
a. The plant was to be enlarged.
b. The testing field was to be enlarged.
c. The supply of production materials was to be guaranteed.
Zahm approved the cooperation with Funkwerk Zittau only if the HV R-FT would
guarantee these conditions.
8. In early December 19549 however, the conferences between Funkwerk Zittau and
Stern-Radio Rochlitz about the production of component parts ended with a complete
failure. Rochlitz had to turn over work orders to Stern-Radio Berlin.
Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
 Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
-3-
Messgeraetewerk Zwoenitz was also unable to give work orders to Funkwerk Zittau,
By early December, the production of Funkwerk Zittau during the first half of
1955 was increased to about 40 percent, in compliance with&decree by the HV R-F T
to concentrate the entire 1955 production in the field of electric acoustics,
although it was not covered by work orders during the first half of the year, In
addition to this emergency measure, HV R-F T had ordered the production of
semiautomatic Morse keys without having received any work orders. The production
of gears for ten-record automatic phonographs in 1955 was turned down
by Funkwerk Zittau as impossible. The production of some instructive material
was slightly increased, although there was no demand. The most serious problems
in the material supply were eliminated in December 1954. Even deep drawing sheets,
imported from an undetermined country, 1.5 mm, 1 mm and 0,5 mm thickwere delivered
unexpectedly,
9. In early January 1955, the plant had work orders for 201 medium frequency direction
finders for the USSR. According to rough calculations, each unit would be worth
7,900 eastmarks. An order for the production of a medium-to-high frequency
direction finder was received from the Association for Sports and Techniques ((S T).
By the end of 1954, about 1,500 sets of = type voice radios had been
delivered to the Ministry of In+Arior for the KVP. For 1955, now work orders
for Uli ut sets and XglZrant , were received from the P'B.nistry of Interior,
In September two firms in India, the Federal India Trading Co., Ahmedabad, P.O.
Box No, 61, and the National Trading House Gibb Town, Dharwar, Bombay State,
India, asked for instruction material and instruments. The letters did not state
the quantities wanted,but merely asked for an offer.
10. On 30 December 1954, Funkwerk Zittau was sued in the Court of Arbitration (sic)1by
the Ministry of Machine Construction for the late delivery of electroacoustic
products. Funkwerk Zittau maintained that the cause lay in the delayed delivery
of component parts from the subsidiary plant. The judge stated that the plant
should have obtained information on the delivery noss4.bilities of the subsidiary
plant in time, and fined Zittau for not complying with the terms of the contract,
11. Because of production difficulties, Zittau was under constant observation by SED
members in January 1955, A special SSD commission, investigating the entire
plant, was primarily interested in the poor utilization of the plant capacity,
the reason for the low morale of the personnel, and the flight of Department
Chief Langer (fnu), Plant Party Office Secretary Hans Jaeger, and the secretary
of the plant manager, Mrs. Schoenfelder, to West Berlin on 25 December 1954? The
commission also checked whether the plant was capable of arms production. On
2B and 29 January 1955, Eberstein (fnu) and Kretzschmar (fnu), commissioners
of the SSD Office in Zittau, visited the technical manager and other leading
persons and asked the same questionswhich the special commission had asked just
a few days before. The result of these investigations were discussed in a final
meeting at HV R-F T in late January 1955. Funkwerk Zittau was exonerated and
the unfavorable developments were attributed to the HV R-F-T.
12. In late January 1955, Gasch (fnu), chief of the Production Office of the Model
Construction Plant at Dessau, informed Funkwerk Zittau that the orders for
aluminum castings could not be filled because the Government had cancelled one
third of the production quota for aluminum and aluminum alloys and the available
supply had to be used to fill the most urgent requirements.
Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
 Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9
13o Plant Ma.aager Wiesner, who was in Warsaw for several weeks for an exhibit
of DDR models, stated in a letter., dated, early November 1954, that the
exhibition was highly appreciated by the Polish authorities, and the interest
taken in this exhibition was much greater than expected. The exhibition was.,
therefore, extended, Wiesner, as a member of the DDR Trade Delegationjattended
many conferences with Polish officials, The Poles were very interested in
instriact,icn materials and electrcaooustic products. On 10 November 1954, an
additional conference was to take place for which prospects and offers of
Finkwerk Zittau were needed,
14.
According to a S or (Marine Radio Decree), all East German ships are
to be equipped with medium to low frequency direction finders. An order received
from the Ministryy of Interic-, however, the production of requested four-medium-
frequency di:rec-ion findera,2 At a conference in Rostock in December, Funkwerk
Zittau inquired about this work order and was informed. by a representative of
the Ministry that the order for medium frequency direction finders was not to
be changed., since the regulations of the 9gg grdnune did not affect the
Ministry.
C oID'A1@nts ?o
lo Probably Staatiiches Vertragsgerichts Court of Contracts Adjudications..
20 As received, It in not known how this unidentified order from the
Ministry of the Interior affected the production of the DF unite,
25X1
Approved For Release 2008/06/17: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA007500140008-9