Giesche

Giesche Corp. (Giesche Spolka Akcyjna) – one of the biggest and most respectable companies operating in Upper Silesia, in Poland, during interwar times. It was the biggest Polish zinc producer (40% of country zinc production) and one of the biggest coal producers, possessing zinc mines (the largest in Europe), bituminous coal fields (production 3,500,000 tons yearly), rolling mills and smelters, factories and also agricultural lands and forests. It employed nearly 20 thousand workers, for which housing quarters were built (today famous monumental discricts of Katowice).Its biggest zinc mills were Giesche (later known as Szopienice) and Wilhelmina; biggest coal mines were Giesche (later known as Janow, still later Wieczorek) and Kleofas. The biggest zinc mine was White Sharley (Bleischarley) but it formally belonged to German parent company of Giesche.

History

Prior to World War I, certain zinc and coal mines in Upper Silesia, owned and operated by the Giesche family since 1704, were then held by the German firm Bergwerksgesellschaft Georg von Giesche's Erben (hereinafter referred to as Erben). The Erben mining properties were divided by the German-Polish boundary line set by the Treaty of Versailles in 1922, so that about 80% was allocated to Poland, and the remainder to Germany. For practical reasons the Polish properties were therefore transferred to one of Erben's subsidiaries, a firm incorporated in Prussia about 1907. This firm then became the Polish Corporation Giesche Spolka Akcyjna (Giesche Corporation).The post-World War I operations of Giesche Erben and Giesche Spolka Akcyjna appear to have been financially unsuccessful. This was partly because Poland had laid a heavy tax on the Spolka properties. Because unsettled conditions made it difficult to borrow German funds to pay these taxes, Erben had to seek completely new solutions and decided to sell out the Polish company.

Giesche Corporation becomes American-owned

Giesche Erben started negotiations with W. Averell Harriman and with Anaconda Copper Mining Corp. In 1926 Anaconda and Harriman decided to purchase the majority of capital stock of Giesche Spolka Akcyjna. Therefore they organized a holding company in Delaware, USA: Silesian-American Corporation. It became the sole owner of Giesche Spolka Akcyjna (previous owner, Erben, contributed all capital stock of Giesche Spolka Akcyjna to Silesian-American in return for minority share in the latter).The Spolka stock was carried in Silesian-American first balance sheet at the enormous sum of $21,550,000.

War breaking out

When World War II broke out in the fall of 1939, the entire Silesian area was overrun by the German Army. The Americans in the Spolka concern were forced out one by one; the last, Spolka's general manager, left Switzerland in 1940. During the occupation the over-all supervision of the Spolka properties went to a German 'Commissar' or trustee, Dr. Albrecht Jung, head of Erben's legal department. Direct operations were apparently in charge of Dr. Eduard Schulte, Erben's general manager, and his deputy, Dr. Lothar Siemon. The officials of Erben were in a position to do virtually what they chose with these properties, but at the same time they realized they did not have legal ownership control of Giesche Spolka Akcyjna. Thus they made some attempts to take over full stock capital of Silesian-American (Spolka’s parent company), although unsuccessful – compare Silesian-American Corporation.

Post-war times

Right after WWII Communist Government of Poland by decree of January 3, 1946, nationalized certain of its industries. The Spolka properties were nationalized and the company’s activity was suspended, although from legal point of view Giesche Spolka Akcyjna has never been liquidated nor it has gone bankrupt.

Sources:

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit, Dec. 26, 1950. CONWAY v. SILESIAN-AMERICAN CORP. (which may be found at [http://www.jurisearch.com/default.asp] )

Sixteenth Annual Report of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fiscal Year Ended June 30,1950, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1950 (which may be found at [http://www.sechistorical.org] )

U.S. Supreme Court Dec. 8, 1947 SILESIAN AMERICAN CORPORATION V. CLARK (which may be found at [http://supreme.justia.com/us/332/469/] )

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit April 13, 1953 CONWAY v. UNION BANK OF SWITZERLAND (which may be found at [http://www.jurisearch.com/default.asp] )

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit, Second Circuit. July 3, 1946 SILESIAN-AMERICAN CORPORATION et al. v. MARKHAM, Alien Property Custodian (which may be found at [http://www.jurisearch.com/default.asp] )

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit Dec. 6, 1956 SCRIBNER & Miller v. Francis CONWAY, Trustee of Silesian-American Corporation (which may be found at [http://www.jurisearch.com/default.asp] )

Time Magazine Jun. 14, 1926 ( [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,751560,00.html] )

Also a lot of Polish language sources, concerning mainly the history of Silesian industry, the history of Katowice and its districts, web pages of particular Polish coal mines. For example: [http://www.giszowiec.sewera.pl/] [http://www.kopalnia.com.pl/]

The book “Secrets of Upper Silesian Corporations” by Jerzy Jaros – in Polish („Tajemnice górnośląskich koncernów” Śląski Instytut Naukowy, Katowice 1983)