Your submission at Articles for creation: Kazimierz Marjam Ołdakowski (December 20) edit

 
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Kazimierz Ołdakowski (13 July 1879 – 30 April 1940) son of Franciszek Ołdakowski of the Rawicz clan Rawicz coat of arms, and Helena Grabowska of the Oksza clan Oksza coat of arms, was born on 13 July 1879, on the family property in Kałęczyn in Pułtusk county. Ołdakowski received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Saint Petersburg University, and a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

Family edit

In 1912, Ołdakowski married Edmunda Gruszczyńska. She died in 1947. The Ołdakowskis had three daughters: Irena, Halina and Zofja. Irena [[1]] married an American diplomat, Charles Woodruff Yost, who helped Halina and Zofja escape to America in 1940 on the USS American Legion, sent by President Roosevelt. It was the last neutral ship to leave Europe. Halina became a Chicago architect, and Zofja was among the first female Miami police detectives. Ołdakowski’s granddaughter, Felicity Ołdakowska Yost, worked for 37 years at the United Nations, and wrote a privately published history of Ołdakowski’s life. Ołdakowski’s grandson Paul Bevilaqua followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, and became an engineer. As part of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works team, Bevilaqua invented the lift fan for the Joint Strike Fighter F-35B In 1940, Ołdakowski’s nephew, Zbigniew Chamski, was executed by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs NKVD during the Katyn massacre. Two of Ołdakowski’s brothers in law were executed by the Nazis during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

Career edit

  • 1904: worked in the Industrial Company power station, in Sosnowiec.
  • 1906-1911: owned and managed an electrical components manufacturing company in Łódź.
  • 1912: was manager of the Tow. Akc. K. Rudski factory in Warsaw, where he was responsible for building the Poniatowski Bridge.
  • 1916: worked at the Mokotów Power Plant in Warsaw.
  • Between the First and Second World Wars, Ołdakowski advised the High Commissioner of the free city of Danzig (Gdansk).
  • 1919-1921: worked in the Army Supply Central Office in Warsaw, followed by the Central Management of the Army Plant. Ołdakowski, a specialist in weapons production, took over the preparation of blueprints for the production of the machinery, for the Radom armaments factory.
  • 1922: was promoted to Technical Director of the newly established weapon factory in Radom.
  • 1926: became Director of Fabryka Broni in Radom. In April 1927, Ołdakowski signed the official act whereby the State Armaments division took the factory over from the city of Radom.
  • 1930: the Vis pistol was designed at the Fabryka Broni, under Director Ołdakowski. In 1935, it was adopted as the standard handgun of the Polish Army, and is still considered one of the best handguns.

Royal visitors and honors edit

Ołdakowski traveled abroad to negotiate arms sales, and had a number of distinguished clients to his home and factory in Radom, including King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, who bought arms from Ołdakowski. In 1937, King Carol II of Romania visited Fabryka Broni, with his son Michael I of Romania. The king presented Ołdakowski with the Order of the Crown “Ordinul Coroana Romaniei.” The Polish government presented Ołdakowski with the Cross of Merit (Poland) for exemplary services to the state.

World War II edit

When war broke out, and before being evacuated with the government to Łuck, Ołdakowski dismantled pieces of machinery from the factory and buried them close to the Romanian border - which caused the Germans a year’s delay in restarting production in the factory. Ołdakowski was for some time in an area under the control of the Bolsheviks, before he returned to Radom. Even though remaining in Poland meant that his life would be in danger, and with no means to support his family, he refused to abandon his country in its time of troubles. Ołdakowski was one of the few government officials who did not flee to London, but who chose to remain and defend his country. For months, Ołdakowski was on the run, hiding from the Germans. On the 30th of April 1940, when faced with imminent arrest by the Gestapo in Warsaw, Ołdakowski committed suicide rather than reveal where the factory workers were hiding, and where he had buried the factory’s machinery pieces. For a nation as fundamentally Catholic as Poland, Ołdakowski’s suicide was a controversial act. Despite this, hundreds of his workers came out of hiding to speak at his funeral in 1940.

Legacy edit

Ołdakowski became a Polish hero as a result of his selfless final act. When he carried the names and hiding places of the factory workers to his grave, he ensured that they would live to fight another day. Countless lives were also saved when, at great risk to himself, he remained in Radom long enough to dismantle vital machinery parts from the armory, and to arrange for arms to be transported away from Radom before the Germans took over the factory. As a result, the manufacture of arms by the Germans was delayed for a significant period of time. As a result of Ołdakowski’s actions, the Pawiak prison museum, which collects and archives the names of those who died in Nazi prisons in Warsaw, registered Ołdakowski’s life, and hung his picture in their museum - despite the fact that he was never incarcerated by the Germans. Ołdakowski’s fame has grown, following the publication of a study of Poland’s prewar armaments industry by Bogusław Białczak (75 Lat Oddziału Radomskiego SIMP 1935 -2010), and a history of Ołdakowski’s directorship of the armory at Fabryka Broni by the historian Wojciech Nalberski (Fabryka broni w Radomiu w latach 1922-1939). The innovations Ołdakowski put into place in his lifetime, still considered cutting edge, have also contributed to his fame, and are serving Poland as a 21st century guide on the successfully running of a company. German manufacturers are also studying Ołdakowski’s 1920s innovations, which helped nurture the lives of his workers as well as that of their families. The result was a more educated, healthy, and productive work force.

  • Ołdakowski insisted that the government provide his workers with health insurance, and he built an onsite clinic.
  • He built vocational schools.
  • He had affordable housing built near the armory, so that his workers would never be far from their families or their work.
  • He provided day care for the children of his workers, as well as a preschool and kindergarten.
  • To discourage delinquency, he founded an organization for the young and underprivileged, and provided them with jobs.
  • To deal with illiteracy, which affected factory safety, Ołdakowski created a simple picture code. As a result, the percentage of injuries declined by 50% within four months.
  • Ołdakowski felt that green spaces and leisure were as important as employment, for a person’s well being. He arranged for a significant part of the factory’s property to include parks, and added a gymnasium, sports stadium, cultural center, and casino. He was also instrumental in arranging regular vacations for the workers.
  • Due to Ołdakowski’s encouragement, the factory branched out and manufactured bicycles and motorcycles. shortly before the start of world war ii, he purchased adjoining land to build a car factory. Ołdakowski felt that no one product should define a factory.

To honor a man who sacrificed himself to save their parents, the children of Ołdakowski’s former employees installed a plaque at the house where he lived in Radom. The children also overcame the objections of a conservative Catholic member of the City Council, and named a square and park [[2]] in Radom, for Ołdakowski. Ołdakowski is buried in the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

Films edit

A film was made of Ołdakowski’s legacy as director of Fabryka Broni: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlHX8hEoPdY Felicity Ołdakowska Yost’s visit to Radom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q5PJrqw5Ko Paul Bevilaqua’s visit to Radom: http://www.dami.pl/dami-radom,,content,42,news,6075.html

External links edit

  • [3] The life and work of Ołdakowski
  • [4] [5]
  • [http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/kraj/1,34309,3731662.html[ News report of plaque installation, at the home of Ołdakowski
  • [6] Fabryka Broni reference to Ołdakowski
  • [7] [8] Visit of Ołdakowski’s granddaughter to the arms factory
  • [9] Solidarity reception for Ołdakowski’s granddaughter, to Fabryka Broni
  • [10] Visit of of Ołdakowski’s grandson Paul Bevilaqua, to Fabryka Broni
  • [11] Controversy surrounding the naming of a park for Ołdakowski
  • [[12]] Ołdakowski’s granddaughter becomes a Polish citizen
  • [13] Development of the Vis handgun, under Ołdakowski

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Your draft article, Draft:Kazimierz Marjam Ołdakowski edit

 

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Your draft article, Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Kazimierz Marjam Ołdakowski edit

 

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