Zakłady Przemysłu Bawełnianego "Frotex"


Zakłady Przemysłu Bawełnianego "Frotex" S.A., based in Prudnik, was a manufacturer of towels which were exported to a number of countries including Italy, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.

History

Zakłady Przemysłu Bawełnianego "Frotex" S.A. traces its roots to the middle of the 19th century, when Samuel Fränkel opened a linen fabric factory in the area of modern Prudnik in 1845. Soon after, the factory took over a local competitor, which went bankrupt, and gained a monopoly in the region. The production of towels and terrycloth began in 1903. World War I stopped the dynamic growth of the factory, whose products were by then known in the German, English, French and American markets. By virtue of the Nuremberg agreement, the company was taken over by inheritors of Samuel Fränkel in 1938, while they were forced to emigrate. The company was renamed to Schlesische Feinweberei AG.
In late September, 1944, a sub-camp of Auschwitz was established in "Frotex". The women, mostly Jews from Hungary, worked on the spinning machines. The sub-camp was shut down on 19 January 1945 and the women there were evacuated on foot to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, from where they were then taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. After World War II, the factory underwent reconstruction in 1949.
After 1949, a long period of recovery began for the company, which was then located in Poland. The company was named "Frotex" in 1965. In 1992, "Frotex" modernized the spinning mill and dyeing plant and opened a purification plant. "Frotex" was transformed into a State Treasury Company during that same year. In 1995, "Frotex" was added to the General Privatization Program and included in the Second National Investment Fund. In 2002, board members of the Second National Investment Fund decided to sell the majority of their shares in the company.
"Frotex" ceased operations on 5 July 2014. In 2016, the American company Henniges Automotive opened its manufacturing unit in the building previously occupied by "Frotex".

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