I.G. Farben was a German Corporation which was closely associated with the National Socialist era in Germany. A chemical producer (which had a monopoly on the Chemicals market in Germany) it was responsible for the production of zyklon B, the gas used in the Death Camps. Tainted by the holocaust the directors were captured by the Allies and tried for a number of war crimes. Of the corporation only BASF, AGFA and Bayer still exist as companies. Here is an article about their involvement with the regime: CHAPTER TWO: The Empire of I.G. Farben
Hi GH, Thought might also be interested in IBM involvement also IBM and the Holocaust excerpts Reviews here http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com/mediaeuropean.php
Excellent post dbf! Great links. There was a book a few years ago about that very subject: Amazon.co.uk: IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation: Edwin Black: Books
I believe that Farben or its immediate predecessor was instrumental in developing gas for use in WW1.
Well the company known as IG Farben didnt commence until 1925 but some of its constituent companies were working closely in WW1. Dont know which ones though.
Got to be mildly careful if condemning any of these 'Allied' companies though, 'The Market' has always ruled from Ford to Vickers and all points in between. I'm sure potentially dark corners can be found for many large concerns. The field's also packed full of conspiracists who grab hold of one small example and blow it out of all proportion. I have a longstanding minor interest in Ford possibly being fully aware that it was supplying trucks to the Wehrmacht above and beyond it's 'annexed' German subsidiaries; I had hoped the denizens of the Internet might get closer to the heart of the story as time went on, but if anything it's become more obfuscated over the years as standard issue conspiracist loonies have taken over the story, mixed it with Henry Ford's known bigotry, and launched themselves off into fantasy land. On other vast German concerns, I'm reading 'The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968' at the moment, rather flowery prose but my god what a story.
I remember seeing a documentary a few years back about Volkswagen. The Volkswagen factory was in the British zone of occupation after the war and there was some debate over what should happen to it. If I remember correctly, in the interests of helping to kick start the German peacetime economy again, one British officer in particular was keen to get the factory up and running to resume production of the Beetle - perhaps a bit of mistake that, considering the state of the British car manufacturing business now.
Major Ivan Hirst of REME. Remarkable man. volkswagen history, REME, Major Ivan Hirst, Radclyffe Roadster, Hebmuller Ivan Hirst - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia YouTube - Ivan Hirst interview Volkswagen Celebrates Launch Of Ivan Hirst Biography
VW 'book' on the man in pdf format (8Mb), A major figure in the company's history: View attachment VW Hirst book.pdf
Major Ivan Hirst of REME. Remarkable man. [/URL] Quite agree. There was a very good feature on the Volkswagen story in After The Battle, issue number 12 (cost me 75p in 1976), which I believe is still available from the publishers. Geoff (VW owner)
Hi GH, Thought might also be interested in IBM involvement also IBM and the Holocaust excerpts Reviews here http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com/mediaeuropean.php Very interesting stuff for me, bookmarked it 've read the excerpts and impressed... business is dirty thing, this is another proof..
Just digging out a link to that Hirst book for somebody and pottered onto more VW history downloads.: VW Media Service - History Some interesting looking titles there, though I'm currently wading through this: The British and their Works - The Volkswagenwerk and the occupying power 1945-1949 Good stuff I reckon.
I remember seeing a documentary a few years back about Volkswagen. The Volkswagen factory was in the British zone of occupation after the war and there was some debate over what should happen to it. If I remember correctly, in the interests of helping to kick start the German peacetime economy again, one British officer in particular was keen to get the factory up and running to resume production of the Beetle - perhaps a bit of mistake that, considering the state of the British car manufacturing business now. I saw that, can't recall the name of the officer. I could have sworn the basic design of the type two was down to him too, although it's recorded as being the Dutchman Ben Pon. The idea behind the type two was originally to offer a shattered and poor Europe a vehicle which would suit work needs during the week and recreational and travel needs during the weekend. Part of the demise of UK manufacturers is down to the EU, the rules imposed make government investment in such prohibited. VW continued to enjoy subsidy as the Germans negotiated the inconvenient rule away with the French in return for a similar blind eye over French agricultural concerns, meanwhile the UK stuck to the rule, which VW continue to break to this day. Robin Reliant anyone?
That IG Farben story is interesting, apparently due to a legal "loop hole" the company was never able to officially shut down! I found this image on the wiki, I'm suprised the building is still standing! It looks like the companies that merged to create IB Farben "unmerged" and took the new found research they obtained from the concentration camps to release new products into the market.
I G Farben had a number of factories and industrial units built around Auschwitz - the Monowitz complex being one of the largest - bombed by the USAF operating from Italy in 1944. Himmler courted the directors of IG to set up there the coal , water and good rail network being used as pointers as to why they should and the promise of labour from Auschwitz being another. The SS got paid for providing both skilled and unskilled labour , as far as I am aware the worker got zlich. (I will try and look up the agreed rate paid to the SS). The camp was said to have generated something like £125 million by todays standards towards the German economy. In respect of the people "resettled" - their property ( homes ,contents, buisnesses and savings) were stolen by the State before they were "deported" , ( some Allied states had to pay the SS for their transport costs) , and what transportable valuables they had when they arrived at the camps down to the clothes of their backs were "recycled" (stolen) and sent back to Germany. As far as large corporations such as "I.G." went they did no more than the dictatorship had already established as "the norm" . "Selection" on the arrival ramp at Birkenau was just an extention of this - it started with "T4" which again was costed to produce a projected saving - projected into the 1950's as to monies saved on care and fodd which would not be expended on "the useless eaters". ( I will try and look up this figure ). The camps ran on the same premise - if you could not work you died , why is an exact figure for deaths at Birkenau not known - in part beacuse it was not worthwhile counting people who had no value - as long as they died nothing else mattered. Hard it may sound , but this is the value system which drove the state , it was the moral compass which saw people as a slave resource to be exploited for maxium profit. This is what hanged Saukel and really should have given the same fate to Speer. The nature of the state itself which permitted and depended on the use of slave labour - making it the norm in the occupied east underlines another aspect of what the camp system was really about , this did not start with the war - it had been an increasingly important economic aspect of how the State was being run even before the war. This may read rather blured in that the links between IG , the industrialists and the SS are seamless but this is what the system produced and basically how it ran. As a slave state it had few rivals other than Rome. The stone to rebuild Berlin as "Germania" was to be supplied by slave labour from German concentration camps who would also supply no doubt part of the labour ro build the wonderful new buildings which Hitler would glorify himself ,the party, as he put it "what counts is building for eternity".
