Elektrit

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

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]

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 US$1 million.[1] Elektrit proved to be a very successful company and soon became a leading radio manufacturer 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 copies of Polish pre-war models but with Soviet tube set.

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

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Stinzing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guzenberg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dumalakas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).