BALL-BEARING AND AUTOMATIC INDUSTRY IN EASTERN POLAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380558-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 558
• Publication Date: March 28, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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GONF'I:DENT7AZ, u?[`~D~H1~p~?
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY Fo":and
SUBJECT F_onomi~ -? Bal~vbearing ind~.istry
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
~i~W3p!in 9r9i p9'C1:i ".y :3~ b~cke
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1948 - 1951
DATE DIST. a2~ Mar 1951
N0. OF PAGES 5
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
F~?snkf~;r*. 4m,~ Mafia
nit ooeursxr eoru~xs uro[rsno~ ~rnrnr[ ns r~norw< etnrn
or rxs urmo suns nnu rxs runre or unorsn ~a se
u. s. e., a ?ro u.u sruosr. ro rursrusiox o[ rxs rsvsunor
ioinoiirui ~iiiwoumoi or iMU ioii iii~xonuiiio. a rro-
n.4LL.~BEP.i?TNG A'dD AUl'L1A1A`FIC Tft.T~iJS~tY Ift EAS'I~.N_ POLAND
'_''hiE report is ~ ~ompil:~ti.on of fragrnentsry data on the Polish
ba;'::.-?beari.^.g industry 9n3 related cgtablishmentso fine date. was ob-
t.ined from c.oversge of al~. pertinent Polish periodical literature
;r_d a number of the newspspPr.~ of 'the perl.od Februaxy 1949 to Febr~
s:~ry :,.y51, as ?,,?1= .a~ ye?. ba^r_s pub2ishP3 in 19480 Numbers in pa-
^~u?h~seR r~?aa? to appen3ed sourc?~s,
As e~:y .;~ ~~ Mssch i.9?E~ Roczn~k Przea~slu ^dredzoneJ_Poleki (1)9 in its
clsusiPi?d irdEx under ba;..:...b=erfng px~duct.tcn9 '_iated ona producer =~- Huta "Ma?-
:~yp5rrew" ! "Malappney" .Mete.l.'s~rgir_5l Plant) 9 Oximek9 tnorthwest of Katowlce~~ Opole
Powiat, >'ae ~3eFCriptder. oY the p.Le.n*., lists the fo,.l.owing products: steel caet-
;.ngs, roI~.^re., machina parts, ws.~.hine cases9 bearrings_and bearing brackets for
ci!tmping shafts ~~, machining; nroducti~n ~f oxygen 3n3 gasworks tar,
fihe "Malspa.new" plant fie seldom mentioned in the prase, However, on 1 Au-
gv_gt i.95O R?7eczvoanol.lta (21 repar~ked that workers employed at the Siderurgica
Breda Smelting Works in Milan had sent a letter to the workera? council at "Ma18p~
anew" in Ozimek with a promise to fight fcr progress end peacer
,;a,;
From 1948 on9:references to plans for a ball bearing plant appeared from
time to time in publiaetiona aid tb.P press>
The four largest investments planned for the metal manufacturing industry
fcr 1948 included 94 million zlotys for aball-bearing factory, ConatruByioMarch
of the factory was to begin during the Three-Year Plan (1947W1949)0(3)
19489 thr. precision and optical instruments branch of the Polish metal manufac.
turfing industry.~ras reported to have begun work on the problem of activating
the production of ball bearings in Poland,(4)
In July 1950, Gos odarka P~anowa (5).mentioned aball-bearing plant in Kras-
nikD?Lublin WoJawod2two, as being among new plants of the metal,manufacturinB in-
dustry on which construction ws,s undertaken during the Three-Year Plan, Others
in the same category were the truck fac+,ory in Starachowi.ce and the passenger
automobile factory in Warsaw,
`. Dp~FIDENTIA~.
CLASSIFICATION '~Ol~`TDEN'~'TAT.
STATE
ARMY
NSRB
F61
DISTRIBUTION
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The praducticr. of the ball-?bearing plant was reported to be intended for
th? automotive and other ~industries.(4)
`~ The plan for 1950 listed products which were to be manufactured in Poland
~r the first time This i.ist did not .tnclude ball bearings.(6) Thie may pos-
slbly indicatA eit''?r that ball b=wrings were being produced, at least on a
smal~ sr.a1P: either at "Malspane~' or elsewhere prior to 1950, or that the ball-?
"bea.ring plant in Kresnik was already producing in the winter of 1949.
As for toiler or needle bearings, no specific. references to the manufacture
of A.ither ha~~e been found in the Polish press and publications covered. However,
a 1.950 issue of Frze lad Koman.ikac jny_ ~7) advertised SKF' roller bearings for
_._:_g~._~~_ ~~
r3il.roed cars an3 lo~omctlves for sale by SKF~,Loz`y'syka Toczne, W~egwTechniczne
iSKF; Antifricticn Aer~rings, Technical Bureau No Swiat 19,
The ba.ll?-bee.ring plant in Kre.sni.k is often mentioned in connection with the
automotive plant in Lublin, 45 kilometers distant by call. Thus, in discussing
plans for the industrialization of undeveloped areas, each of three sources (8,
..0) mentioned the building cf totb plants. In addition, one of the sources
9;
(9) stated the?, during the Six-?Year Plan, the value of industrial production in
Lublin Wojewodztwo would in~~resse fivefold. It identified the most important
investment projects in this wojewodztwo as the automotive factory in Lublin,
the factory for instal-~aticn egiiipmeni .in Poniatow, and the ball-bearing fac?-
tory in Krssnik. Anothe.~? ice (8) stated that, during the Six-?Year Plan,
industrial employment in Ids=nik, Tublin, and Pulawy powia~:s would incre~+se by
about 20 000,
The following article ill) in which the plant is called the Fabryke.Wyrobow
M~tA.lowych (Me.tsl Products Fsc.tory) gives late?(30 January 1951) information on
conditions 3a the ball-bearing p]snt i.n Krasnik.
"The PKS (State Mot,o:r Transportation) bus between Lublin and Krasnik still
travels e bumpy, winding roe.d, but in the near future the road will be replaced
by a. smoath, modern highway connecting Lublin with the mighty Fabryka Wyrobow
MFta]owych~ one of the large=t investment pro.ie^..ta of the Six~Year Plan. From
month to month, ind~iEtr.ial expansion .s cbsng(ng the employment habits and spirit
of the popula.*.ien of tr:is raral; backward powiat.
"The factory ha'h already experienced its first yeax ~,znder the production
plan. The plan has not only been fulfi].I.ed, but increased and exceeded by 60,000
halt bearings, The workers of the plant are from Krasnik, Wyznica, Dzierzbowice,
and Urzedowc -?~~ all peasants and boys and girls who never before had anything to
do with machinery o+.her than p1oF*s and threshers. Makuch, secretary of the party
orgsnizstiony knows ,all the workers intimately.
"Toward the end of 1949, the plant's spacious shops were being erected and
modern machinery was being moved in. Skilled workers arrived and local recruit
went began among the farm hands. After 6-8 weeks' training, the workers became
familiar with the strange new machinery and decided to stay at the plant. The
party organization acquired 70 new members from the workers of the production
shops, Thirty percent of the factory employees are women, and nearly all the
workers are of pessent origin. Already 39 rationalizera have been developed
among them. An outstanding worker is Leokadia Wojtaszek, a.Krasnik farm orphan,
who, afte?.? a year's work in the polishing and grinding division, recently '.:on
thr. Silver Cross award for her good work, her struggle to raise the norms and
exceed the plan, and her persistent efforts to mitigate stoppages.
"Kryatyna Maciag, another peasant girl, nearly broke down when she first
started s.t the plant. She was afraid of the machinery and was constantly being
transferred because e11 her work had to be scrapped, But the party secretary
encouraged her. "Even if you produce one good piece for every ten scrapped,
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thst`s not bad. Keep on lasrning and. become familiar with your machine," he
told her, Her defective output gradually decreased and finally disappeared.
Todsy she se?s up machineso
'Young Marian Rydof is in c:hsrge of the ZMP (United Polish Youth) factory
brigades snd of the 170 students of the industrial school, 20 percent of whom
.a.re g1Y16o
^T--,e far_tory buildings cover 3n enormous area with smooth, spacious, as-
pha7.t surface surrounded by young oak trees. Not far from the plant, a modern
residential. development cai'_?ed Dabrowa??Bor is being built. White dwellings
with running water and electric lighting already house about a thousand per-
cons~ By the end of the Six-Yeas Plan9 they will house 6,000-8,000 residents,
which is approeimatel.y the population of Krasnik today. In the future, the
town wilt, hsve schools administration buildings, a medical clinic, a motion
picture theater sec-tang 800, sad a. lsrge athletic field. In the more distant
futur>, the development wail have 14,000 residents,
"Ali these changes imply parr~ll.el expansion of the factories, to include
a nursery for 80 children ap~dsat~aasn~gncwillrbe lasts lednto serveoKrasnik
and station will bF bui_.t,
well a"
Because of the. :10Se connection between the ball-bearing and automotive
industries, and becautte production snd employment indexes for this geographi-
rsl sres arA apt tc coyer both Krssnik and Lublin, the following article (12)
d_scribing progre?~ at the automotive plant in Lublin and Soviet aid to Polish
industry is givens
'"All. Lublin is talking about the giant heavy truck factory being erected
on the outskirts of the city. The original plan called for the building of
~n ~.utomoti.ve sssembly plant which would manufacture only certain machine parts.
However., in spring 1y50 it was 3ecide3 to build a complete; modern plant which
would be one of the laxgest in Europe. The following facts give some idea of
th? size. of +.he undertaking: With respect to economic significance and the
n~aer of workers employed, this factory ranks second after Nova Huta among in-
vestment pro,}erts of the Six~Yesr Plan, This plant will account for a large
shsre of the 25,000 heavy trucks to be produced annually toward the end of the
Six-Year Pla.n~
"In the early stages of the pro3ect, plans and credits were approved but
theY~e was no msnpower for the construction work. The local "Budowa" building
cooperative had only nine employees and one old truck, But there was consid-
erable untapped manpower in the area., A subdivision of Baton-Stal (part of
the Association of Industrial Construction) was set up within the locallathinra_
tive. Farm folk Prom nearby villages came to Lublin to learn masonry, B,
carpentry; and welding until the building division comprised 600 persons, among
them 70 percent of rural origin,
"Workers who erected the workshops can already see signs of the trucks
which will be leaving the assembly plants in the immediate future. They can
also see the enormous crates with Russian markings piled up in the shops.
These contain modern Soviet machinery which, guided by Polish hands, will
produce Polish automotive vehicles, Soviet aid does not end there, Soviet
aid is present in the technical plans, in the constant supervision, in the
.conferences on technical problems, and in constant contacts with experienced
Soviet technicians. A group of Polish engineers and technicians is now gain-
ing experience in the automotive works in Gor'kty and another group will soon
follow,"
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' 1
~~~~,;.'~Pni ~ j~
%In connection with Soviet aid to Polish industry, the following informa-
tion '~13) en the Polieh~~Soviet trade agreement may be noted: "Under the trade
gr^-_ment between Foi.and and the USSR, signed in June 1950, the USSR will ex-
port to Poland mire than 30 key industrial installations, including a truck
factory, s pa.asenger car factory, a tractor ..?actory, and a ball-bearing plant,
In add.itien to supplying comp'_ete equipment for these factories, the USSR sup-
piiee valuable technical literature, technical plans, records of Soviet experi-
ence, and Soviet licenses and patents. The USSR assists in the designing and
construction of the p'~ants and. in the installatior_ of the equipment. It also
givers prn::t,;r_91 training to Poii.sh engineers, technicians, and workers in Soviet
industrial plsntso"7
Tr r:~n`?.1nne with thr, description of the Lublin plant (12):
"The heart rf the plant will be a modern automatic foundry, which will
produc- no+_ ~n':.y bs,sic ;:?sstings but also cutting tools,
~~~,, f=~crory personnel is ;:creasing as construction progresses. In July
;9=,r, it ccr_sisted of five persors:. the managing director, the financial direc-
tor, *.'r_e ;nvestmPnt director. the personnel manager, and s bookkeeper, The fac-
tory is stlil under construction, bu+, past of its future staff is already work-
ing there Students of the evening lyceum are getting experience in the plant
offices, drafting an3 preparing technical documents, production plans, instruc-
tlons~ and tec:hnoiogical processes under professional guidance, Courses in weld-
ing 9`nd drafting are being ccnducted, Some of the students are getting on-the-
,job training at Starachowice.
"Residen'iel construction is also making progress, The first development,
to house ',,,000 resideris; is being built next to the factory site. There will
be three such developments; with a combined total of 10,600 rooms, There will
also br_ public buildings; schools, athletic fields, clubhouses, stores, and
reQtsurant_. There must be parallel expansion of power, gas, water supply, and
orbs^. tra_nsportat.inn facilities. Eighty kilometers of new railroad lines Fill
b=, built in the s.rea."
1. Warsaw, Rocznik Przemyslu Odredzone~ Polski i=ndustrial Yearbook of Renascent
Pcland), 'c'S Mar 48, pp 526 and 535
2~ Warss.w, Rzeczpospolita, daily newspaper, 1 Aug 50
3, Ylsssaw, Rocznik Polityczny i Gospodarczy 1948 (Political and :'conomic Year-
book far 1948), Jul 48
4. Wa_~saw, Gospodarka Planowa, monthly periodical, Feb 49
5, Warsaw, Gospodarka. Planowa, Jul 50
6, Warsaw, Monitor Polski, irregular newspaper, 16 Mar 50
?, Warsaw, przeglad Komunikary,jny, monthly periodical, Aug/Sep 50
8. Warsaw, Gospodarka Planowa, Oct SO
9, Warsax, Zycie Gospodarcze, semimonthly periodical, 16 - 31 Aug 50
20. Frankfurt am~Ms.ia, Wiadomosci Polskie, DP weekly newspaper, 5 Nov 50
CONFIDENTIAL
~~~s~~a'~'~~~~~~J
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llo Warsaw, Trybuna Ludu, daily newspaper, 30 Jan 51
12o Warsaw, Trybuna Ludu, 6 Feb 51
13, Warsaw, Motoryzac,~a, monthly periodical, Nov 50
CONFIDENTIAL
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