Cseh Valentin szerk.: „70 éve alakult a MAORT” – tanulmányok egy bányavállalat történetéből (2009)

Tibor Laklia: MAORT through the Eyes of a Former Employee

The work of the plant "taken over into government management" and classified as a "war plant" continued with the working style that had evolved since 1937. We must highlight two important factors: maximum effort expended for the sake of production, at all levels, and the contribution of single individuals to this. Some examples of the former: according to regulations, you had to spend the time of air-raid warnings in the shelter, and road transport was also prohibited. This was impossible to observe in drilling and production's work process. Every now and then crews left the direct vicinity of a derrick for maybe a few minutes because of the direct threat to life; this is what happened in the case of drilling HE-26. Trucks pulled to side for the brief time while bomber formations passed them overhead. Production units did not stop for a single minute at our plant. Individuals' conduct also contributed to the solution of seeminglv impossible situations. The first factor that needs to be highlighted is reporting for work punctually. The three-shift order of work demanded this circumstance anyhow, you simply had to comply with "you must be there on time!" How? On foot or bicycle, in snow and rain, yet every time, even during air-raid warnings. I think all of us understood our duties and could strike a balance between that and what we got m return. War events therefore had no apparent impact on MAORT's work on the oilfields. A few examples of this, that I articulated subsequently: "purpose-implementation-putting in production" came one after the other at an almost unbelievable speed, even looking at it from today's perspective. What we saw was: well marked H-5 started to produce on February 14,1942 and still during February - in bitter cold and snow! - the 6 km pipeline stretch between Pusztaszentlászló and Tófej railway station was built, along with the railroad loading station; the construction of tank station HT-1 began in April 1942 on the banks of the Válicka stream in Pusztaszentlászló, together with its connected pipeline running to Újudvar, at a length of 23 km. Oil transmission began in the first days of June; during this same time three pipelines were built between Bázakerettye and Lovászi, a gas pipe from Kerettye to Nagykanizsa, and the construction of the 8" Ujudvar-KápolnásnvékBudapest oil pipeline also began. We knew that in the wake of events on the Eastern front, then Romania's backing out of the war, each and every drop of Hungarian crude was needed. Certainly this must have played a role in MAORT finding itself in an exceptional position. It was something that we also felt on a day-to-day basis. Two examples: the war plant exempted technical staff in the most crucial positions - engineers, chief tool pushers, tool pushers and charge hands - from military service, and was at least able to secure postponement for others in many cases too; war conditions led to a verv difficult situation in food supply nationwide. MAORT's "grocery repository" managed to obtain flour, lard, sugar, and even shoes in the most particular ways. Some of the families were even able to stock-up in preparing for the anticipated direct events of war. As the front approached, military units and civilian refugees arrived en masse, but MAORT still continued to provide a lot to its employees in the western part of the country, diminished to just seven counties. The role of the grocery repository increased, and this kind of care also made 200 i i us--