MEH SCRAP COLLECTING ENTERPRISE, DEBRECEN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A003801070011-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 4, 2006
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: March 29, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2006/05/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA00380107001 1 -0
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form 1s prohibited.
SECRET/CONTROL - U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
COUNTRY Hungary
REPORT NO.
MEN Scrap Collecting Enterprise,
DATE DISTR. 29 March 1954
Debrecen
NO. OF PAGES 2
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
11 it
The HEH scrap collecting enterprise (NEH Vas Es Femgyujto VAllalat) in
Debrecen is engaged in the collection of metal scrap, waste paper, scrap
rubber, phonograph records,, feathers, and rags. The central office., at
3 Szepsegi Utca9 directs the collection of scrap in Debrecen and surroundings,
the Hajdu and Bihar districts (Hadjumegye, Biharmegye). The enterprise
maintains one collection' station in each of the 23 villages., and 1.6 collect-
ion stations in Debrecen. The main depot for the scrap material collected,
which employs 300 workers, is also located at 3 Szepsegi Utca., in Debrecen.
The general manager of the enterprise is Racz (fnu), about 50 years old, a one-
armed Party member who was formerly a laborer in a leather factory in Debrecen.
The Party secretary is Iasj (fnu), about 40 years old, a former textile aid
feather merchant from Sarretudvari.
2, Each village collection station, with one storeman and one collector., receives
from the central office a monthly quota of scrap to be met. In addition to
materials voluntarily brought to the station by the inhabitants., the collector
must obtain the remainder of the scrap more or less by force. The collector
visits private homes and decides which articles must be handed In as scrap
regardless of whether they are still in use. This method is applied especially
in the collection campaigns3which,take place every four to six months,
3. Each article collected is registered along with the owner's name, Prices paid
by the enterprise are as followsg-
Wrought iron scrap
Machine castings
Forints er.kg.
Commercial castings (household articles, etc.)
Brass
Bronze, copper
Aluminum
Aluminum parts (airplane
abbe r
Phonograph records
Feathers
wrecks.,
.1
.30
.20
4.00
7.00
3,00
etc) 1,50
.60
.40
10, 20., 40.00
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=ARMY 1C
AIR X FBI AEC
Washington Distribution Indicated By "X"; Field Distribution By
Approved For Release 2006/05/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA00380107001 1 -0
 Approved For Release 2006/05/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA00380107001 1 -0
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Rags .60 to 1,00
Newspapers, books 1,00
Wastepaper .60
4. At least 20 percent of the articles collected can be resold as secondhand
goods. They are separated from the rest of the scrap in the central store
and sold at 30 percent less than the market price for secondhand goods,
5. Scrap paper is brought to a separate depot on Teleki Utca, which is equipped
with three paper presses. The enterprise owns a small paper bag factory near
the depot which employs approximately 30 workers, 20 to 25 of them women.
6. The average monthly turnover is 700 tons of scrap. It is sorted by the store-
men and either forwarded to the central depot in Debrecen or se-?t directly
to Budapest. The enterprise owns two trucks and 12 horse-drawn wagons, used for
transporting scrap from private homes and from the collection points to the
central depot.
7. The yearly plans of all state enterprises, such as factories, industrial
cooperatives, etc., include a certain quantity of scrap to be delivered by
them. These quotas are collected without payment by another enterprise,
but are sometimes collected by the MEEH, which gives a receipt specifying
that the scrap is part of the yearly quota of the enterprise concerned,
Any surplus in excess of this quota must also be delivered without payment,
although when it is delivered to MI; z t, ; s sometimes paid for in cash and
registered in the name of the manager of a cooperative or of the storekeeper of a
collective farm, etc., as if received from private individuals,
8. A Soviet major from the airport near Debrecen once called the MEH office
and offered to sell some scrap, He delivered in person several truckloads
of new aluminum airplane parts and was paid the normal price of aluminum
scrap.
9. Three special scrap collecting campaigns were conducted in 1953s compared with
one or two in the preceding years. Village councils, Party members, teachers,
schoolboys, etc. are mobilized for this purpose. Each one is assigned specific
areas and norms. The unusually high quotas imposed on the villages and town
districts,along with the great zeal of the campaigners, result in actual confis-
cation of household goods, appliances, etc. from private homes, especially if
the owner is a kulak, a former bourgeois, or is generally considered hostile,
The high percentage of serviceable articles, which are sorted out in the scrap
depots and resold at enormous profits compared with the scrap price paid for them,
comes mainly from these organized campaigns. The plan for the scrap collection
campaign in May 1953 in the Debrecen district, which lasted four to six weeks,
included approximately 3,000 tons of paper, The result was 60 percent above this
plan, which meant premiums for the enterprise, the collectors,, and 'f'or everyone
who participated in the campaign.
SECRET/CONTROL - U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2006/05/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA00380107001 1 -0