Felix Mandl

Last updated
Felix Mandl
Born(1898-12-16)16 December 1898
Nationality Croat

Felix Mandl (born 16 December 1898; died 1993 [1] ) was a Croatian businessman and entrepreneur. [2]

Contents

Early life, background and education

Mandl was born in Wien as the fourth child of a wealthy Jewish family. [3] He studied agriculture and philosophy in Göttingen at the University of Göttingen.

Career

Mandl's grandfather founded a cement plant in 1867, which had a branch plant in Podsused, district of Zagreb, Croatia. Later that plant was turned from craft into a corporation with headquarters in Zurich. Mandl was supposed to move to Zurich, but with Adolf Hitler's rise to power, he changed his mind. [3] Plant in Podsused was named "Croatia". [3]

During the World War II he moved to Zagreb from where he guided the plant in Podsused. Soon he became a victim of political regimes. When the Ustashe came to power in Croatia, they began to threaten him with murder because he was a Jew. His plant was taken away from him by NDH regime. Mandl ended up in jail due to listening the BBC radio program, which was banned at the time. [3] He was also arrested by the Gestapo, but was released after five days due to "economic reasons", while other prisoners that were with Mandl in detention were sent to Nazi concentration camps. [3] After the war Mandl was tried by the communist regime of SFR Yugoslavia for alleged collaboration with the fascist government, which was never proven. He was sentenced to ten years of forced labor. Mandl was taken to Lepoglava prison, from which he was released after two years when it was discovered that during the war he helped a Partisan fighters. [3]

In the nationalization by the communist regime, Mandl was left without any factory, except the one in Podsused, which was later renamed to "Sloboda", but was soon afterwards destroyed. [3]

In Kenya in 1951 Mandl founded Bamburi Cement, one of largest cement companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. [4]

Personal life

Mandl was married to Ana Bing from 1931. During World War II he had sent his wife to Budapest, out of a fear that Zagreb was no longer safe for her. Mandl's wife returned to Zagreb after a month, although the threat still existed. While in prison in Lepoglava, Mandl had regularly visits from his wife. On 5 December 1950 Mandl and his wife emigrated to Kenya. [3]

Mandl wrote the book "Usprkos svemu ostaju sjećanja (In spite of all the memories remain)", in which he described his life.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic clergy involvement with the Ustaše</span>

Catholic clergy involvement with the Ustaše covers the role of the Croatian Catholic Church in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a Nazi puppet state created on the territory of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia in 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aloysius Stepinac</span> Croatian Latin Catholic cardinal (1898–1960)

Aloysius Viktor Stepinac was a high-ranking Yugoslav Croat prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1953, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death, a period which included the fascist rule of the genocidal Ustaše regime with the support of the Axis powers from 1941 to 1945 during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ljubo Miloš</span> Jasenovac camp commandant and war criminal

Ljubomir "Ljubo" Miloš was a Croatian public official who was a member of the Ustaše of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. He served as commandant of the Jasenovac concentration camp on several occasions and was responsible for various atrocities committed there during the war. He fled Yugoslavia in May 1945 and sought refuge in Austria. In 1947, he returned to Yugoslavia with the intention of starting an anti-communist uprising. He was soon arrested by Yugoslav authorities and charged with war crimes. Miloš was found guilty on all counts and hanged in August 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stara Gradiška concentration camp</span> Concentration camp in Croatia

Stara Gradiška was a concentration and extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. The camp was specially constructed for women and children of Serb, Jewish and Romani ethnicity. Victims also included communist and anti-fascist Croats and Bosniaks. It was established by the Ustaše regime in 1941 at the Stara Gradiška prison near the eponymous village as the fifth subcamp of the Jasenovac concentration camp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moša Pijade</span> Yugoslav communist politician

Moša Pijade, was a Serbian and Yugoslav painter, journalist, Communist Party politician, World War II participant, and a close collaborator of Josip Broz Tito. He was the full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. During the Interwar period in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Pijade was an accomplished painter, but spent almost 15 years in prison because of his communist activity. He took active role in the People's Liberation War and was one of main leaders of the Partisans. After the WWII and creation of socialist Yugoslavia, he became a prominent politician and was the President of the Federal Parliament from 1954 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otokar Keršovani</span> Croatian journalist

Otokar Keršovani was a Croatian and Yugoslav journalist, literary critic, publicist and communist politician.

Dinko Šakić was a Croatian Ustaše official who commanded the Jasenovac concentration camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) from April to November 1944, during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepoglava</span> Town in Varaždin County, Croatia

Lepoglava is a town in Varaždin County, northern Croatia, It is located 32 km southwest of Varaždin, 7 km west of Ivanec, and 22 km northeast of Krapina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josip Kraš</span>

Josip Kraš was a Croatian communist and partisan who died in World War II and was proclaimed a People's Hero of Yugoslavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamburi Cement</span> Kenyan manufacturing company

Bamburi Cement Limited is an industrial company in Kenya specialising in cement and concrete. The company has operations in Bamburi suburb of Mombasa, it is headquartered in Nairobi and its stock is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrija Hebrang (politician, born 1899)</span>

Andrija Hebrang was a Croatian and Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician. A member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia until his dismissal, he served as the 4th Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavko Löwy</span>

Slavko Löwy was a Croatian architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Đuro Pucar</span> Yugoslav politician

Đurađ "Đuro" Pucar "Stari" was a Yugoslav and Bosnian Serb politician.

Ivanko Farolfi was a lawyer and Croatian and Yugoslav politician. He was a member of the Croatian Peasant Party. He was the mayor of Vis from 1936 to 1941. After the World War II invasion of Yugoslavia, Farolfi moved to Zagreb. Yugoslavia was dismembered and the Independent State of Croatia, an Axis puppet state, was established. The HSS split into several factions, but Farolfi stayed in a faction that remained loyal to the party's prewar president Vladko Maček. Soon after beginning of the war, Maček was arrested and spent the most of the period under house arrest, advocating passivity and keeping his distance from the Ustaše that ruled the NDH on the one hand and from the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The KPJ and its nominally independent branch, the Communist Party of Croatia which led increasingly successful armed resistance: the Yugoslav Partisans. After a period of inactivity, the HSS leadership consisting of party secretary August Košutić, Ljudevit Tomašić, and Farolfi tried to implement a strategy to gain control of the NDH's regular army: the Croatian Home Guard. The scheme was based on Maček's erroneous belief that the Western Allies would not tolerate a communist regime in Yugoslavia and that the Allies would land someplace along the Dalmatian coast to prevent the increasingly successful Partisans from prevailing in the country. The HSS planned to have the Home Guard switch allegiance then to the HSS and the Allies so the HSS could negotiate from the position of force after the war. Farolfi was tasked with securing cooperation of high-ranking Home Guard officers. The plan produced no significant results because the HSS envoys sent to contact the Allies were ignored. Although no significant officers participated in the scheme for years, this changed in 1944, when the group was joined by the Interior and Armed Forces ministers in the NDH government Mladen Lorković and General Ante Vokić. The ministers assumed a further initiative in what became known as the Lorković–Vokić plot to switch the NDH's allegiance to the Allies. Lorković and Vokić believed the NDH leader Ante Pavelić would support the plan and informed him, only to be arrested along with Farolfi and Tomašić. All four were taken to Lepoglava Prison, where they were held until 30 April 1945 and executed shortly before the defeat of the NDH.

Baron Viktor Gutmann von Gelse und Belišće was a Croatian industrialist.

Savo Vjerko Zlatić was a Croatian physician, politician and chess composer.

East African Portland Cement Company commonly known by its abbreviation EAPCC, is a Kenyan based construction company specializing in the manufacturing and selling of cement and cement related products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zagreb in World War II</span> Aspects of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia during World War II

When World War II started, Zagreb was the capital of the newly formed autonomous Banovina of Croatia within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which remained neutral in the first years of the war. After the Invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy on 6 April 1941, German troops entered Zagreb on 10 April. On the same day, Slavko Kvaternik, a prominent member of the Ustaše movement, proclaimed the creation of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), an Axis puppet state, with Zagreb as its capital. Ante Pavelić was proclaimed Poglavnik of the NDH and Zagreb became the center of the Main Ustaša Headquarters, the Government of the NDH, and other political and military institutions, as well as the police and intelligence services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marijan Dragman</span> Croatian boxer, and alpinist

Marijan Dragman was a Croatian alpinist, photographer, sportsman, and painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepoglava concentration camp</span>

The Lepoglava concentration camp was a concentration camp in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. It was located 25 km southwest of Varaždin and operated by Ustaše, a Croatian fascist, ultranationalist terrorist organization. In July 1943, it was briefly captured by Yugoslav Partisans.

References

  1. "Our history". www.lafarge.co.ke. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  2. Springer, Zvonko (2008). "1964 - 1967 British Portland Cement CO. Ltd. - Bamburi Portland Cement Co. Ltd. Mombasa (Kenya)" . Retrieved 2012-09-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 S. Ciboci; I. Rimac (2008-01-15). "Židov koji je svima bio neprijatelj" [Jew who was an enemy to everyone] (in Croatian). Jutarnji list . Retrieved 2018-01-22. Felix Mandl, imućni Židov i vlasnik cementare u Podsusedu.("Felix Mandl, wealthy Jew and owner of the cement plant in Podsused.")
  4. "Kenya Business Directory". www.kendir.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-07.