ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AT VEB CARL ZEISS JENA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A001000630007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2009
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: May 1, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2009/02/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA001000630007-4
CLASSIER ? `flONI
NFORr1ATION
LLJGE VCE, ~#GEN
ION REPORT
REPORT
OQ NO.
W D1. I Thy 19"
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQUIREC
DATE OF
INFO.
NO, OF ENCLS.
(USTEO BELOW?
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO. 25X1
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Administrative Reforms at VEB Carl Zeiss, NO. OF PAGES 2
Jena
-i Clar"_ ~.eiss, Jena, fulfilled its 1952 !;ales plan ('. r:}satzplari) by 108'
percent Fullfilr.ent of tie financial plan, however, wa3 uncertain until
shortly before the end of 195:2 when the finances of the firrr; .,ere
straiEh1:enc.d out with the aid of government funds. The accounts of the
firm ar;: nor balanced; the works are able to ray incomin,_ bills immediately,
in contrast to 19`32, ur:hen bills were sometimes not paid for more than six
months and when the works son3times Licked the cash funds to pay ;!;irLor
daily waper:se costs,
2, HiJiier SED aL:thorities' a.re dissatisfied with the political situation in the
works,. : e.in Director Iugo `lclrade is a member of the "'-.D, but not a
trusted one.. Other top level officials of the firm, such as Technical
Dircci,or :_udolf :':hells and the head of the Optics department, 'alter
F1 .:her, a:?e not affili~t:rd with any party, The director of the works has
been reproached for his lack of eagerness in tie political indoctrination
of employees, To change this situation and to str :n -then on
the works, authorities have forced the direction of the works to cut
its eo.mr..::rcial staff by 56 employ :es who are to be released in the near
future, This measure is dispaised as a ster. to reduce expenses.. In reality,
the members to be dismissed will be reel.^ced by trusted :-:l ren from the
loc?.wer levels of the Zeiss coraiercial administration; this rove is the first
in a series for the political "purification" of the works, The reason
that the first , .ove is directed exclusively against the commercial staff
ia tha% c:,tar.,ercial personnel can be renlrce.d ),ore easily than technical
rerscnnei, 1,'any eiss t.eciinic tans are xnowr. to be '-oliti.cally unreliable,
k i:t tits:;, can not 'ae disrn s:;ed because there are currently no replacements.
STATE
AR14Y~--
CLASSIFICATION
AIR ~!M F61!^
4 Tais DISTRIBUTION
Approved For Release 2009/02/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA001000630007-4
 Approved For Release 2009/02/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA001000630007-4
In the beginning of 1953, an important change ordered by the i'ast German
Government became effective,, Up tc that time the firm had been working
on the basis of two plans: the regular economic clan apes?oved by the State
Planning Cggmiggiou and an internal plan taking I.nto cony, iderati on the
special conditions under which the firm works. The internal
lrn
was
i p
called the '=Feinplan". it contained h=.gher production gal.; than the
g.: r
government schedule. Because of the shortage of T 'tcrials and the fact
that many of the devices produced took a relativeiy lon- development and
construction time, the firtr. had many. jroducts which could not be completed
in the course of a planning period. These products were then stored in
semi-finished four; or as parts of products until such tine as t1,.ey could be
completed and marketed,. This policy was designed to avoid the idleness
of important work shops such as the works' turning and milling ;hops,
As a result, storage halls hive in the past been. filled with prat; which are
to be '-iced later in the mounting of finished product;;. : torr.d t errs and
semi-finished products did not figure in the Government ;clan but -,rl.y
in the Feinplan. Stored items were finished. whenever. }hP A,-,-t.ra3. of material
_>r accessory equipment permitted -their being completed. The,-thto
were added to the government plan for the period. as overfullfi1rrent.
Storage of semi-finished good: and parts required a rela?,:ivel Mar e
investment of funds. At the end of 1952, the government, issued a oa,?-
against the use of a Feinplan in the works and prohibited the constr- ction
of products which could not reasonably be expected to be finished in the
current plan period, Shortly after this measure took effect at. the
beginning of 1953, the expected result occurred in the turning and milling
shops of the works. They now h.1ve long periods of idleness, where3.s the
mounting and assembling chops of the firm work feverishly in order to
assemble the stored parts carried over from 1952., This siturticr. has
created considerable unrest ar.ong the Zeiss personnel, m; ,inly ergo",; the
employeec in the workshops,,
4.. In a meeting of staff personnel of the firm (fnu) Rehfel.:l3 a m::r:b--rr of the
production dep~~rtmer,t of the works, outlined the government measure and
the reasons for it. He declared that there was not enough capital to
allow investment in the stor, ge of n-arts and semi-finished prodrct Bv.~;ry
such investment would decrease the funds available to the 'ast Cer;an
re-armament pro ,ram, Rehfeld addF,d that according to government l.ntentions,
the yearly financial turnover of the corks. which in 1052 :-,gas 1,2, is to he
increased to 2.0 in 1953 and to be further ; ;~=; :.used 1atnr; this measure
also is intended to make more funds avail :~hl e for exania ,s of a firm with a very frvor7ble financial turnover, Jl e?:Ifeldci.ted
the V-B Optik works in Ratheno:~: which has a yearly turnover of 2.,4.. 1/
5. in order to enforce its order, t'zc rovernr,ent h''is also si;ipule-led th?t the
Zeiss works are from now on to receive enough material