Israel Polack
Israel Polack (Hebrew: ישראל פולק; 1909–1993) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian, Chilean and Israeli textile industrialist. He is best known for founding the Israel-based Polgat company.[1]
Biography
Israel Polack was born to a Jewish family in Borşa, Transylvania. In 1925, he moved to Gura Humorului, Bukovina, and later to Cernăuţi. While in Cernăuţi, he studied at yeshiva and at a textile plant. In 1935, he founded an enterprise of its kind in the city.
Business career
After World War II, he emigrated to Chile where he founded a textile plant. In 1960, Pinhas Sapir, then Israel's Minister of Industry, invited Polack to establish a textile plant in Kiryat Gat. Polack's new company, Polgat, grew into the largest textile, clothing and knitwear company in Israel. It eventually became a public corporation whose shares were traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In 1970, the Pollaks founded Bagir, a men's division for suits and jackets.[2]
Awards and recognition
In 1990, Polack was awarded the Israel Prize for his special contribution to society and the State of Israel.[3]
In 1992, he was honored by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.