The concern Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth in the Protectorate economy 1939-1942

This bachelor´s thesis focuses on the wartime development of the České Budějovice Koh-i-noor concern during the years 1939-1942. The first part of the thesis takes a compilatory approach, and it describes the economic development of the German Empire and of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia up until the end of 1942 based on available literary sources. The second part of the thesis then deals with the situation inside of the Hardtmut´s concern. Among its basic information sources there are annual reports, operation reports, minutes of pencil company meetings, preserved correspondence, and last but not least, person sources related to the owners and employees of the concern. It is based on these sources that the overall strategy of the concern during the wartime period is analyzed, with a main focus on the transition of exportation markets and on accommodating production to the needs of the war. This development is then analyzed and compared to situations in other České Budějovice pencil companies, namely to the situation in the National Corporation and the situation in the national enterprise named Grafo. In this analysis and comparison lies one of the main contributions of this paper