Draft:Zakłady Radiotechniczne IKA Kalinowski i Sobczyk

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Zakłady Radiotechniczne IKA Kalinowski i Sobczyk (ZRT IKA), was a factory specializing in the manufacture of radio receivers and radio components, active in the years 1929–1946 in the city of Lodz, Poland. The company's partnership agreement was formally executed on the 15th day of April in the year 1929.

Company Founding Agreement p.1

History

Early Years of Operation

The founders, co-owners, and managing directors of the company up until the outbreak of the Second World War were Józef Kalinowski and Andrzej Sobczyk. The division of shares within the partnership stood at 60 per cent held by Józef Kalinowski and 40 per cent by Andrzej Sobczyk. The initial capital investment amounted to 10,000 Polish złoty.

Founder and President of the Board of ZRT IKA Józef Kalinowski

Company Founding Agreement p.2

The company’s first registered seat was located in the city of Lodz, at 68 Cegielniana Street (present-day Stefana Jaracza Street). Other addresses appearing in the company’s historical records include 40 Cegielniana Street and 40 Pomorska Street, under which business operations were also conducted. These variations are, in part, the result of the renaming and renumbering of streets that took place in Lodz during the interwar period. The final address at which production was carried out was the factory building located in city of Lodz at 8/12 Łomżyńska Street.

In its early years, the ZRT IKA was primarily engaged in the trade of radio components such as vacuum tubes, capacitors, chokes, and similar elements, imported from foreign manufacturers among them the German company Telefunken. Subsequently, the company expanded into the production of its own components. The product range came to include a variety of radio technical parts such as transformers, capacitors, chokes, switches, tuning scales, loudspeakers, tube sockets, and other parts necessary for the assembly of radio receivers.

In 1935, ZRT IKA introduced to the market its own line of radio receivers, independently designed by the company's engineers under the leadership of Andrzej Sobczyk. These were sold under the brand name IKA RADIO, bearing various model designations.

The company experienced its most dynamic period of growth between 1936 and 1939, a time brought to an abrupt end by the outbreak of the Second World War and the subsequent seizure of the factory by the fascist occupying forces. One measure of the firm’s success in that era - alongside strong financial results and a solid position in the domestic market - was the recognition and esteem its products received from state and military authorities. This culminated in the signing of a contract between ZRT IKA and the Polish Army of the Second Republic of Poland for the manufacture and supply of specialized radio equipment. Regrettably, the surviving company records do not contain detailed information concerning the specific subject matter of this agreement.

Nevertheless, the company’s principal field of activity remained the production of radio receivers for civilian use. The IKA RADIO models offered on the market of the Second Polish Republic of Poland were distinguished by their high technical standards and meticulous craftsmanship. These attributes positioned the brand as a formidable competitor among both domestic and foreign manufacturers selling receivers in Poland at the time. ZRT IKA successfully competed with prominent producers such as Marconi, Telefunken, Philips, and Poland’s largest domestic manufacturer, Elektrit.

Between 1935 and 1939, the company introduced a total of eleven radio receiver models to the Polish market: MARS, EROS, METROPOLIS, SYMFONJA, TRIUMF, and six models identified by numerical designations: 24, 42, 44, 46, 57, and 77. At its peak, the company employed over 200 workers.

During its most prosperous years, annual radio receiver sales reached approximately 6,000 units, with yearly sales revenues amounting to around 900,000 Polish złoty.

The Second World War

Following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 by fascist, Hitler's Germany and the commencement of occupation, the ZRT IKA were seized by the Nazi authorities, and the company’s personnel were compelled to produce goods in service of the Third Reich.

The enterprise was renamed Radiotechnische Werke "IKA" Kalinowski & Sobczyk Litzmannstadt and began manufacturing civilian radio receivers for the German market, thereby contributing significantly to the mass radiofication of Nazi Germany. Under occupation, the facility also produced specialized radio-technical equipment for the German military, particularly naval German forces - the Kriegsmarine. Devices produced by IKA RADIO Litzmannstadt were installed on German U-Boat submarines. Civilian production from 1940 to 1945 focused primarily on the DKE38 radio receiver, developed as an inexpensive "people's radio" intended for wide public dissemination.

The Post-War Era

Immediately following the withdrawal of fascist occupiers from city of Lodz, one of the company’s founders, Józef Kalinowski, resumed management of the firm. The post-war fate of the second co-owner, Andrzej Sobczyk, remains unknown.

On 19 January 1945, Józef Kalinowski ordered a physical inventory of the company’s assets to assess the extent of the damage inflicted during the occupation. The inventory revealed that the facility had been severely devastated and looted - stripped of its machinery, equipment, production materials, and semi-finished goods. The losses were estimated at 963,115.00 pre-war Polish złoty. Despite the extensive destruction, the company retained a limited capacity to resume production, although severely constrained by the lack of financial resources and shortages of equipment and machinery.

In the initial months following the war, ZRT IKA attempted to adapt to the emerging socialist reality. The company undertook commissions for the State and for the People’s Army of Poland. However, the centrally planned economy imposed by the newly established communist authorities of the Polish People's Republic - marked by inefficiency and economic mismanagement - soon became a point of contention between the company’s management and the ruling party apparatus.

As a result of the political transformation, the company came under the practical supervision of Polskie Radio and its Director, Engineer Władysław Heller. A conflict emerged as early as 1945 between the company’s Board and Engineer Heller, who ordered several tonnes of steel to be stored without protective covering, thereby exposing it to ruin. The Board refused to comply, arguing that such an order constituted gross mismanagement and wastefulness - especially egregious in the context of the country's post-war condition. In consequence of this opposition, Józef Kalinowski was removed from the Board and expelled from the company altogether. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to regain his position through legal channels.

On 14 February 1946, the company was formally notified that, pursuant to the Act of 3 January of that year “On the Nationalization of the Fundamental Branches of the National Economy,” the communist authorities were assuming full ownership of the assets of Zakłady Radiotechniczne IKA. In the months that followed, the company’s assets were partitioned and the enterprise was physically dismantled. Its equipment and inventory were redistributed to other factories in the city and across the country, e.g. to the Electrical Apparatus Factory, formerly "Imass" in Łódź.

A portion of the technical equipment and machinery was assigned to FONIKA ŁÓDŹ, a newly established state enterprise created by the communist government. This factory was founded upon the seized assets of two pre-war Lodz-based companies: the phonograph and radio receiver manufacturer TEKAFON, and Zakłady Radiotechniczne IKA. The name of the state enterprise was formed by combining elements of the names of these two former producers: TEKAFON and IKA Radio.

External Links

• IKA - Zakłady Radiotechniczne - radioretro.pl
• Łódź - Łomżyńska 8/12 - zdjęcia, mapa
• Polskie radioodbiorniki - historia, modele, ciekawostki
• 46 Z Radio Ika Radio Radio IKA; Lódz+Litzmannstadt, build |Radiomuseum.org
• Ika Radio ; Lódz+Litzmannstadt manufacturer in PL, Model typ | Radiomuseum.org
• Radios
• Rundfunkgeschichte Generalgouvernement Polen 1939 - 1945 |Radiomuseum.org
• IKA - Radio |Radiomuseum.org
• Biesler Radiofundgrube
• Ika Radio – Radiomuseum-bocket.de
• ika: DKE38B - Jka Litzmannstadt |Radiomuseum.org
• IKA-Radio