Ignáz Etrich Limited Partnership, Horní Staré Město

Collection

Scope and content:: The fonds contains records of the Ignác (Ignaz) Etrich limited partnership in Horní Staré Město. Accounting records are the best preserved of the documents relating to the company's activities; they comprise a long and consistent series of ledgers dating from the first half of the 20th century until the company's nationalisation. Accounts from the period of Nazi occupation include some records that relate to the use of Jewish female prisoners.

Archival history:: The fonds was transferred from the Texlen 11 Plant in Horní Staré Město to the business archives of the state-owned enterprise Texlen in 1963. A supplementary inventory was carried out in 1976. After the discovery of additional records, a decision was taken to set up a new arrangement for the fonds. The fonds now has a combined inventory and three temporary ones. The fonds is kept in the depository of the state district archive in Trutnov.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Ignác Etrich company was founded in 1901 after the division of Josef Etrich & Sons. Ignác Etrich, who established a flax processing enterprise and spinning mill in 1902, was not only an entrepreneur but also an important inventor in the field of textile engineering. His son Igo was a distinguished aviation pioneer. During the second world war the Ignác Etrich company made use of the labour of Jewish female prisoners, who worked in the mills in Horní Staré Město and Bohuslavice and lived in camps built nearby. The average number of Jewish female prisoners from Poland and Hungary was 250 in Horní Staré Město and about 70 in Bohuslavice. The company was put under national administration after liberation in May 1945 and in 1946 it was nationalised and incorporated into the state-owned Czech Flax and Textile Works in Trutnov, later becoming part of the state-owned enterprise Texlen in Trutnov (Plant 11).

Subject terms:: Financial records; Forced labour (of Jews); Occupation (military); Trade and commerce; Trade and commerce--Clothing and textile trade

System of arrangement:: The fonds is arranged as follows: A) Company records-I) Management and administration, II) Employees, III) Accounting and reporting, IV) Production of textile machines, V) Photographs. B) Records relating to the company owners, C) Igo Etrich's aviation activities and I) Patents and designs plans II) Specialist publications III) Photographs.

Finding aids:: Smutný B., Ignác Etrich, komanditní společnost, Horní Staré Město (1893)1901-1946(1948). Sdružený inventář, 1981, 53 s., ev. č. 505.