Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik [SEP] inception
Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik
Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik (English: "Otto Eberhardt Cartridge Factory") was a munitions company established in 1860. The company's "Hirtenberger Patronen, Zündhütchen und Metallwarenfabrik" (English: "cartridge, primer and metalware fabrication in Hirtenberg") near Wiener Neustadt (proofmark "am") used forced labor during World War II from a sub-camp of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp and produced ammunition including 9×19mm Parabellum (pistol and submachine gun) and 8 mm Mauser (rifle) cartridges.
produced its first motorcycle, the BSW 98, which had a 98 cc engine and two-speed transmission. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the BSW initials: "Bis Simson Wiederkommt" ("until Simson returns").
After the Simson brothers were exiled the factory increased weapons production. From 1939 the company was called Gustloff-Werke – Waffenwerk Suhl, named after assassinated Swiss Nazi Wilhelm Gustloff, and had subsidiaries such as the "Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik" ("Otto Eberhardt Cartridge Factory"