Państwowe Zakłady Inżynieryjne

The Państwowe Zakłady Inżynieryjne (National Engineering Works, PZInż) was a Polish pre-WWII arms industry holding and the main Polish manufacturer of vehicles, both military and civilian.

It was created by the Polish minister of industry Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski on March 19, 1928, out of several previously existing state-owned factories and scientifical institutes, among them the Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe and the Ursus factory. It was Kwiatkowski's plan of reorganization and modernization of Polish arms industry that eventually led to the creation of PZInż, but also the Państwowa Wytwórnia Uzbrojenia (National Arms Works), Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (modern PZL), Państwowe Zakłady Optyczne (National Optical Works) and National Factory of Gunpowder and Explosives in Pionki.

Shortly after the outbreak of the World War II and the German occupation of Poland, the PZInż was confiscated by the German state, its factories dismantled and sent to Germany while a large part of the engineers either killed or sent to Germany as slave workers. After the Warsaw Uprising the Warsaw headquarters of the PZInż was blown up, not to be rebuilt after the war. In 1946 the Ursus works started to be rebuilt and eventually became a large tractor factory.