Hell's Cartel_IG Farben and the Making of Hitler's War Machine

by Diarmuid Jeffreys

  “Gustav Stresemann’s German People’s Party”: Turner, H. A. Gustav Stresemann and the Politics of the Weimar Republic. See also Borkin, The Crime.

  “Carl Duisberg had begun”: U.S. National Archives Record Group 238, M892, Records of the United States of America v. Carl Krauch et al. (Case VI), Defense Papers Schmitz, affidavit by W. F. Kalle, Sept. 8, 1947; Hayes, Industry and Ideology.

  “Die Zeit”: Tammen, “Die I. G. Farben,” and Turner, Gustav Stresemann. For the Europäische Revue, see Hayes, Industry and Ideology. For the Frankfurter Zeitung and following, see Tammen, “Die I. G. Farben.”

  The overview of the causes of the Depression and its impact on Germany is drawn from a variety of sources, including Evans, The Coming; Kolb, The Weimar Republic; Bessel, Germany; Eyck, A History of the Weimar Republic; and Clavin, The Great Depression in Europe, 1929–1939.

  “IG Farben, now far”: The financial effects of the collapse in nitrogen prices are detailed in Abelshauser et al., German Industry; and Tammen, “Die I. G. Farben.”

  “As Carl Bosch”: For general workforce reductions, see Tammen, “Die I. G. Farben,” and Plumpe, Die IG Farbenindustrie. For Ludwigshafen and Oppau, see BASF UA, IG TO1, “Umsatzanteil pro Belegschaftsmitglied” (H. Rötger). For attempts at amelioration of workers’ distress, see Abelshauser et al., German Industry.

  “The IG survived”: See Schröter, Deutsche Industrie auf dem Weltmarkt.

  “Quarrels between”: See NI 6524/49, affidavit by Carl Krauch; NI 6765/52, affidavit by Friedrich Jaehne.

  “But Bosch”: See NI 5184/18, affidavit by Fritz ter Meer.

  “‘In recognition of their contributions’”: Holdermann, Im Banne der Chemie.

  “Typically, Bosch pressed ahead”: NI 1941/18, Zentralausschuss meeting of May 18, 1931. For Duisberg’s view of Brüning, see Duisberg to Kirdorf, June 26, 1931, Bayer Leverkusen Archives.

  See Hayes, Industry and Ideology.

  “The financial relief”: For the decision to commission another report on Leuna, see NI 1941/18, Zentralausschuss meeting of June 20, 1931.

  “He entrusted”: For Gaus’s conundrum, see Abelshauser et al., German Industry.

  “‘After careful consideration’”: W. Gaus to Bosch, “Fortführung oder Stillegung der Benzinfabrikation?” BASF UA 25.

  “Bosch was infuriated”: Contrasting figures reproduced in Tammen, “Die I. G. Farben.”

  “The Depression had fatally”: For the Communist Party’s response, see Evans, The Coming.

  “At the opposite end”: This brief account of the Nazis’ rise to power is drawn from various sources across a vast historiography. I have found the following most useful: Evans, The Coming; Burleigh, The Third Reich: A New History; Kershaw, Hitler, and Weimar: Why Did German Democracy Fail?; Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany; and Jones, German Liberalism and the Dissolution of the Weimar Party System, 1918–1933.

  “‘Instead of working’”: Hitler’s Secret Conversations, 1941–44.

  “The bosses of IG Farben”: For RGO election figures, see Braun, Schichtwechsel: Arbeit und Gewerkschaft in der Chemie-Stadt Ludwigshafen.

  “Up until this point”: For Nazi figures, see Braun, Schichtwechsel. For unrest in works, see Bayer Archives, Leverkusen, “Politik/Staats-und Parteipolitik 20/11/30.” For Nazi workers’ bomb plot, see BASF UA, CI3, “Direkktionssitzungen Ludwigshafen 1930–1939”; and Meinzer, 125 Jahre BASF.

  “What was commanding”: See Bayer Archives, Leverkusen, 4C9.25, Gajewski I/4, Affidavit by G. Ollendorff, April 24, 1947. For Ley’s denunciation of Warburg, see Nordhausener Allgemeine Zeitung, Sept. 16, 1927, in Bayer Leverkusen archive. See also Hans Kühne, NMT, vol. 7, p. 634.

  “‘If you could talk’”: Gattineau to Karl Haushofer, June 6, 1931, NMT, appendix.

  “Whether Haushofer did so”: NI 15237, Gattineau’s report, Oct. 12, 1931. Nazi reports in Völkischer Beobachter, Feb. 10, 1932.

  “When Hitler arrived”: See affidavit by Gattineau in NI 4833/35 and Bütefisch’s testimony, NMT, vol. 7, pp. 544–60.

  “As the discussion”: see Gattineau and Bütefisch, above, and NI 8637/71, interrogation of Heinrich Bütefisch, for Bosch quotation. The Speer quotation in the footnote is from Speer, Inside the Third Reich.

  “Over the next few months”: For Wilhelm Mann’s party membership, see NI 5167/38, affidavit by Wilhelm Mann.

  “Then came Hitler’s appointment as Reich chancellor”: Evans, The Coming; Burleigh, The Third Reich; and Kershaw, Hitler.

  Invitation to meet Hitler: NMT, vol. 7, p. 557.

  “This wasn’t the first time”: Turner, German Big Business.

  “By 1932, however”: Ibid. and Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

  “The Nazis’ hopes”: See account of Düsseldorf meeting in Evans, The Coming.

  “The identities of many of those”: Affidavit by Georg von Schnitzler, NMT, vol. 7, pp. 555–56; and memorandum by Gustav Krupp, Feb. 23, 1932, NMT, vol. 7, p. 562. For Krupp’s Reichsverband memo, see NMT, Case X v. Bülow, “Notes of the Business Management of the National Association of German Industry for the Conference at Reich Minister Göring’s on 20 February 1933.”

  “In the row immediately behind him”: For seating arrangements, see Manchester, The Arms of Krupp. For presence of Duisberg at Leverkusen that night, see Verg, Plumpe, and Schultheis, Milestones. Duisberg to RDI quoted in Taylor, Sword and Swastika: Generals and Nazis in the Third Reich.

  “Carl Bosch was absent too”: Affidavit by Georg von Schnitzler, NMT, vol. 7, pp. 555–56.

  “The two IG attendees”: Ibid.

  “The first half of his speech”: Ibid. and memorandum by Gustav Krupp, Feb. 23, 1932, NMT, vol. 7, p. 562. Quotations from a report of Hitler’s remarks in NMT, vol. 7, pp. 527–52. See also NMT, vol. 7, p. 563 (interrogation of Hjalmar Schacht).

  “As Hitler and Göring”: Affidavit by Georg von Schnitzler, NMT, vol. 7, pp. 555–56, and NMT, vol 7, pp. 561–67.

  “On February 27”: NI 391, Selck and Bangert to Delbrück, Schickler & Co., NMT, vol. 7, p. 565. See also Turner, German Big Business.

  For final acts in Hitler’s accession to absolute power, see Evans, The Coming; Burleigh, The Third Reich; and Kershaw, Hitler.

  “Having played such a significant”: For details of the individual donations constituting the RM 4.5 million, see Hayes, Industry and Ideology; and Turner, German Big Business.

  7. Accommodation and Collaboration

  “On March 29, 1933”: Wilhelm Mann, “Concerning Agitation against German Goods Abroad,” NMT, vol. 7, p. 649. Italics in original.

  “This looked set to be considerable”: See Evans, The Coming; Burleigh, The Third Reich; and Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939.

  “Few of these correspondents”: For Mann’s Nazi membership, see “Personalakte Wilhelm Mann,” Berlin Document Center (BDC).

  “‘Day after day’”: Klemperer, I Shall Bear Witness: The Diaries of Victor Klemperer, 1933–41.

  “Carl Bosch, however”: For Schwarz’s Jewish ancestry, see Bayer Leverkusen 4C9.25 Schmitz I/8, affidavit by K. Holdermann, March 6, 1947.

  “A few days after”: Evans, The Coming; Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews; Cornwell, Hitler’s Scientists.

  “In April 1933”: Szöllösi-Janze, Fritz Haber. Haber letter quoted in Stern, Einstein’s German World.

  “Carl Bosch saw”: BASF UA, WI, Bosch to Kultusministerium, April 26, 1933.

  “At first the meeting”: An account of the Bosch-Hitler meeting and these quotations are in Holdermann, Im Banne der Chemie, and repeated in Gattineau, Durch die Klippen des 20 Jahrehunderts.

  “From that moment”: Borkin, The Crime. Max Planck wrote an account of his meeting with Hitler in Physikalische Blatter in 1947, but it is also cited in Cornwell, Hitler’s Scientists.

  “Unable to do more”: On Schwarz, see Bayer Archives Leverkusen, 4C9.25 Schmitz I/8, affidavit
by K. Holdermann, March 6, 1947. On Pietrkowski, see BASF UA, WI, Pietrkowski to Bosch, June 9, 1933. On Haber memorial, see Holdermann, Im Banne der Chemie, and Szöllösi-Janze, Fritz Haber.

  “Bosch’s recalcitrance”: Hans Kühne’s statement in NI 6960, NMT, vol. 7, p. 570. For Nazi May Day rally at Ludwigshafen, see “Der Feiertag der deutschen Arbeit,” IG Farbenindustries AG Ludwigshafen Werkszeitung 21 (May–June 1933), BASF UA.

  “Needless to say”: Quotation from Wolff provided by his family. For the events of May 2 and after, see Evans, The Coming, and Burleigh, The Third Reich.

  “Given the breakneck speed”: For Duisberg memoir, see Duisberg, Meine Lebenserinnerungen. For figures on retirees, see NI 7956–57/66, affidavits by H. Bässler, July 8, 1947, and July 17, 1947.

  “‘The collapse of the liberal’”: NMT, vol. 8, p. 1059.

  “The most obvious”: For Hans Kühne’s Nazi membership, see NMT, vol. 7, pp. 634–36. For Gajewski and Otto, see those pages and NI 14105/115. For Mühlen, see “Personalakte Mühlen,” BDC. For Selck, see NI 1941/18 and “Personalakte Erwin Selck,” BDC. For Hörlein, see “Personalakte Heinrich Hörlein,” BDC. For Gattineau, see “Personalakte Heinrich Gattineau,” BDC.

  “Actual party membership”: For Schneider, see NMT, vol. 7, p. 622. For Bütefisch, see NMT, vol. 8, p. 853. For Schmitz’s Nazi nomination to Reichstag, see U.S. National Archives, RG 239 M892 Schmitz V/92, affidavit by H. Globke. For von Schnitzler, see Hayes, Industry and Ideology, and DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists.

  “These men were still”: Hayes, Industry and Ideology; and Tooze, The Wages of Destruction.

  “‘attending meetings of local’”: NMT, vol. 7, pp. 616–17.

  “One of the most curious”: For Ilgner’s background, see NI 6544/50, affidavit by Max Ilgner, April 20, 1947; Hayes, Industry and Ideology; and DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists.

  “two important NWT subsections”: For establishment of Volks–wirtschaftliche Abteilung, see NI 4975/36, affidavit by Anton Reithinger, Feb. 3, 1947, and affidavit by H. Bannert, May 19, 1947. For establishment of Wirtschaftspolitische Abteilung, see NI 9569/79, meeting of the Arbeitsausschuss (Working Committee), Sept. 7, 1932.

  “‘Ilgner had great ambitions’”: NMT, vol. 7, p. 440.

  “Given the opportunity”: On Ilgner’s Rotary membership, see NMT, vol. 7, p. 440; and DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists.

  “‘After Hitler took over’”: NMT, vol. 7, pp. 440–46.

  “Overseas the IG’s”: For DuPont’s visit to IG, see NI 9784/81, Ewing to Swint, July 17, 1933.

  “Max Ilgner rose to”: On advice to Goebbels, see DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists. Quotation in NI 6702/51, Ilgner’s affidavit, April 25, 1947, and testimony, NMT, vol. 7, pp. 703–45.

  “Undeterred, Ilgner”: See Ilgner’s affidavit and testimony, above.

  “Although the notion”: Ibid. For the footnote on Lee, see U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Special Committee on Un-American Activities, Investigation of Nazi Propaganda Activities and Investigation of Certain Other Propaganda Activities (1934).

  “Ilgner’s enthusiastic”: Quotation from NI 697/7, Schnitzler to Selck, July 28, 1933. For Bayer under pressure in Montevideo, NI 9897/82, Montevideo office to Pharma Direktion, July 29, 1933, and reply of Aug. 18, 1933. See also NMT, vol. 7, pp. 725–26, and NI 8420, meeting of Bayer directors, Jan. 23, 1934. For IG capitulation to pressure, see NI 8421–22, meetings of Bayer directors, Feb. 13, 1934, and Feb. 27, 1934.

  “The IG was to be just”: For examples of contradictory policies on Nazi salute and fund-raising, see NI 5867–68/44, meetings of Hoechst directors, Aug. 14 and 18, 1933.

  “The IG’s various internal”: For report of Ley’s speech, see BASF UA, “Arbeitsfront und ständischer Aufbau,” IG Farbenindustrie AG Werke Ludwigshafen, Werkszeitung 21 (Nov. 1933). For quotation about intention to “Nazify” further editions see BASF UA, “‘Zum Geleit!’” Von Werk zu Werk, Werkszeitung der BASF 23, no. 1 (Jan. 1935). See also Abelshauser et al., German Industry.

  “Sometimes the regime’s”: For air raid practice and Kühne’s response, see NI 8461, conference of plant leaders, June 21, 1933, NMT, vol. 7, p. 1226.

  “The IG was also wrestling”: NI 6787/52, affidavit by Heinrich Hörlein, May 2, 1947.

  “Gradually, however”: For improvement in profits and employment, see NI 10001/82, affidavit by H. Deichfischer.

  “It is questionable, of course”: Figures on employment improved via autobahn construction from Burleigh, The Third Reich. For IG donations, see Turner, German Big Business.

  “The strain on Bosch”: On coal producers and hopes for the Fischer-Tropp process, see Abelshauser et al., German Industry; and Warriner, Combines and Rationalisation in Germany, 1924–28. For details of deal, see Hayes, Industry and Ideology.

  “In June 1933”: For Krauch’s report, see “Die deutsche Treibstoff-wirtschaft,” BASF IG M02/1, and NI 4718.

  For Max Ilgner’s cultivation of Thomas, see Borkin, The Crime. For Thomas’s memo to his superiors, see Geschichte der deutschen Wehr und Rüstungwirtschaft, 1918/1943/44, Imperial War Museum, Duxford. For the possibility that Ilgner might have known of the Air Ministry’s plans, see NI 4718.

  “The general’s most”: For Milch’s dealings with Krauch, see Borkin, The Crime. For the ministry’s response, see NI 6544, affidavit by Max Ilgner, and NI 7123/55, Abschrift, Besprechung im RLM am 15/9/33. For Feder and Hitler, see Abelshauser et al., German Industry.

  “The result was”: For the Benzinvertrag of Dec. 14, 1933, see NI 881/9.

  “‘the magicians who made’”: Opening Statements for the Prosecution, NMT, vol. 7, p. 101.

  8. From Long Knives to the Four-Year Plan

  This account of the events leading up to and including the Röhm purge is drawn from the following sources: Fest, Hitler; Frei, National Socialist Rule in Germany: The Führer State, 1933–1945; Taylor, Sword and Swastika; Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; Read, The Devil’s Disciples: The Life and Times of Hitler’s Inner Circle; and Gisevius, To the Bitter End.

  “As a former corporal”: For Hitler’s sympathy with, and suspicion of, Röhm’s radicalism, see Taylor, Sword and Swastika.

  For Gattineau’s experience, see NI 4833/35, affidavit by H. Gattineau, March 13, 1947, and Gattineau, Durch die Klippen des 20 Jahrehunderts. For Ilgner claims, see NI 6544, affidavit by M. Ilgner, April 20, 1947. For overview, see Hayes, Industry and Ideology, and DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists.

  “But if this was their intention”: For Bosch, see Holdermann, Im Banne der Chemie, and Lochner, Tycoons and Tyrants: German Industry from Hitler to Adenauer.

  For Duisberg’s death, see Verg, Plumpe, and Schultheis, Milestones; and Jeffreys, Aspirin.

  “‘Germany is deprived’”: Times, March 25, 1935, reprinted in Nature, June 22, 1935.

  “Duisberg was not the only”: Hindenburg’s telegram cited in Taylor, The Sword and the Swastika.

  “‘I swear by God’”: The Wehrmacht oath of allegiance to Hitler can be found in any of the standard histories of the Third Reich.

  “Vital though oil”: The best discussions of the IG’s nascent buna programs can be found in Hayes, Industry and Ideology, and Morris, “The Development of Acetylene Chemistry and Synthetic Rubber by IG Farbenindustrie, 1926–1945.” For the Wehrmacht’s purchase of tires for testing, see Bundesarchiv, Lichterfelde, R8128/A1153, IG Farbenindustrie AG Stickstoffabteilung 15/8/33, and NMT, vol. 7, pp. 752–53. See also NI 6930.

  “‘Before we resume our efforts’”: NI 6930.

  “Unfortunately, the Reich’s”: See Morris, “The Development of Acetylene Chemistry and Synthetic Rubber”; and Borkin, The Crime. See also NI 5187/10, affidavit by F. ter Meer.

  “‘The erection of the first factory’”: Times, Sept. 12, 1935.

  “In truth”: For Keppler’s discussions with the IG, see NI 7241/57, affidavit by Ernst Struss. For the army’s resistance and the IG’s reluctance, see NI 5187/10 affidavit by F.
ter Meer. For Schkopau, see Morris, “The Development of Acetylene Chemistry and Synthetic Rubber,” and NI 7624, “Grundlegenenden Gesichtspunkte für die Gründung des Werkes Schkopau und den Buna Vertrag,” Feb. 17, 1937.

  “The decision to proceed”: See Holdermann, Im Banne der Chemie.

  On Schmitz, see NI 6539, affidavit by H. Schmitz; NI 5092/37, affidavit by E. Struss, NI 5092; NI 9761, affidavit by F. Jaehne; Duisberg, Nur ein Sohn; DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists; Borkin, The Crime; and Hayes, Industry and Ideology.

  “Carl Krauch, the head of Sparte I”: See NI 6768, affidavit by C. Krauch. See also Hayes, “Carl Bosch and Carl Krauch”; DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists; Abelshauser et al., German Industry.

  On the establishment of the Vermittlungstelle Wehrmacht, see NI 4702.

  “‘The newly founded’”: NI–2638, Verm. W. to IG Offices, Dec. 31, 1935.

  “The Verm. W.”: See NMT, vol. 7, pp. 134–36 and 1046–48. For more on the prosecutors’ view, see DuBois, The Devil’s Chemists.

  “Mob Kalendar”: see NMT, vol. 7, pp. 1493–95, and NI 4625/34, Verm. W. to the Betriebsgemeinschaften. See also IG Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft, “Mob-Kalendar für das Werk,” Nov. 10, 1936, in GARF (State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow) 1457-49-4.

  “Suspiciously prescient or not”: For clash between Schacht and Keppler and consequences, see Schacht, Account Settled; and Tooze, The Wages of Destruction.

  “Convinced that the former”: See Göring’s assessment in Trials of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 1947–49), vol. 9, p. 448. Further references to this trial will be shortened to IMT.

  “After appointing”: For Krauch’s joining of Göring’s commission and the reasons for Bosch’s sanction of the appointment, see NI 9767/2, affidavit by E. Gritzbach; NI 10386/85, affidavit by P. Koerner; and, above all, NI 676/7, interrogation of Carl Krauch, April 16, 1947.

  “Krauch was delighted”: NI 676/7. For von Schnitzler’s objections, see NI 675/7, Schnitzler’s statement, April 30, 1947.

  “‘If war comes tomorrow’”: Borkin, The Crime.

  For Schacht’s objections see: Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Washington D.C. USGPO 1946), p. 886.