IG Farben (short for Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG, "syndicate of dyestuff corporations", and also called I. G. Farbenfabriken) was a German conglomerate of chemical companies. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. A conglomerate is a large Company that consists of seemingly unrelated Business sections It was founded in 1925, though the major companies that formed it had been working together closely since World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

The company was founded by Carl Duisberg and Hermann Hummel^[1]. Friedrich Carl Duisberg ( September 29 1861 - March 19 1935) was a German chemist and Industrialist. Hermann Hummel ( June 22, 1876 &ndash September 13, 1952) was a German Chemist and Politician in the Republic Initially many of these companies produced dyes, but they soon began research into more advanced chemistry. A dye can generally be described as a Colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties IG Farben held a near monopoly on chemical production. During the National Socialist (Nazi) era, they began manufacturing Zyklon B, which was a poison commonly used at the time for delousing. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Zyklon B (tsykloːn ˈbeː also spelled Cyclon B or During the Holocaust, it was used as the lethal agent in the gas chambers of the death camps of Auschwitz and Majdanek. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany Majdanek was a Nazi Concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland. The company was a major user of slave labour. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another

The IG Farben Building, headquarters for the conglomerate in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was completed in 1931. The IG Farben Building or the Poelzig Building, was built from 1928 to 1930 as the corporate headquarters of the IG Farben conglomerate in Frankfurt am Main

Conglomeration

IG Farben consisted of the following major companies and several smaller ones.

• AGFA (Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation), Berlin
• Cassella, Frankfurt
• BASF (Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik), Ludwigshafen (nominal survivor)
• Bayer, Leverkusen
• Farbwerke Hoechst (now Sanofi-Aventis), Höchst
• Chemische Werke Hüls, Marl (founded in 1938)
• Chemische Fabrik Kalle, Biebrich

World War II

Ruins of the synthetic petrol plant (Hydrierwerke Pölitz – Aktiengeselschaft) in Police, Poland

During the planning of the invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland, IG Farben cooperated closely with Nazi officials and directed which chemical plants should be secured and delivered to IG Farben. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. BASF SE () is a German chemical company and the largest chemical company in the world Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a City in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. For other uses see Bayer (disambiguation or Beyer or Buyer. Bayer AG (German ˈbaɪə () is a German Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, half way between Cologne and Hoechst AG was a German chemicals then life-sciences company that became Aventis after its merger with Rhône-Poulenc S Sanofi-Aventis () headquartered in Paris, France, is a multinational pharmaceutical company Marl is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Wiesbaden, a city in southwest Germany, is the capital of the state of Hesse. Police ("poh-LEE-tze" (Pölitz Kashubian / Pomeranian: Pòlice) is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland ^[2]

In 1941, an investigation exposed a "marriage" cartel between United States-based Standard Oil Co. Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing transporting refining and marketing company and I. G. Farben. ^[3][4] (see^[5] and^[6]) It also brought new evidence concerning complex price and marketing agreements between DuPont, a major investor in and producer of leaded gasoline, U. E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (,) is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a Gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly S. Industrial Alcohol Co. and their subsidiary, Cuba Distilling Co. The investigation was eventually dropped, like dozens of others in many different kinds of industries, due to the need to enlist industry support in the war effort. However, the top directors of many oil companies agreed to resign and oil industry stocks in molasses companies were sold off as part of a compromise worked out. (see^[7][8] but see^[9])

IG Farben built a factory (named Buna Chemical Plant) for producing synthetic oil and rubber (from coal) in Auschwitz, which was the beginning of SS activity and camps in this location during the Holocaust. Synthetic oil is Oil consisting of Chemical compounds which were not originally present in Crude oil ( Petroleum) but were Artificially "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as At its peak in 1944, this factory made use of 83,000 slave laborers. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another ^[10] The pesticide Zyklon B, for which IG Farben held the patent, was manufactured by Degesch (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung), which IG Farben had 42. Zyklon B (tsykloːn ˈbeː also spelled Cyclon B or A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an 2 percent (in shares) of and which had IG managers in its Managing Committee.

Of the 24 directors of IG Farben indicted in the so-called IG Farben Trial (1947-1948) before a U. The United States of America vs Carl Krauch et al, also known as the IG Farben Trial, was the sixth of the twelve trials for War crimes the S. military tribunal at the subsequent Nuremberg Trials, 13 were sentenced to prison terms between one and eight years. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after Some of those indicted in the trial were subsequently made leaders of the post-war companies that split off from IG Farben, including those who were sentenced at Nuremberg.

Break-up and liquidation

Due to the severity of the war crimes committed by IG Farben during World War II, the company was considered to be too corrupt to be allowed to continue to exist. War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Soviet Union seized most of IG Farben's assets located in the Soviet occupation zone (see Morgenthau Plan), as part of their reparation payments. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Soviet Occupation Zone ( German: Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ or Ostzone; Советская зона Германии Sovetskaya zona Germanii The Morgenthau Plan was a plan for the occupation of Germany after World War II that advocated measures intended to remove Germany's ability to wage war War reparations refer to the monetary compensation intended to cover damage or injury during a war The Western Allies however, in 1951, split the company up into its original constituent companies. The Western Allies were the democracies and their colonial peoples within the broader coalition of Allies during World War II. The four largest quickly bought the smaller ones, and today only Agfa, BASF, and Bayer remain, while Hoechst merged with the French Rhône-Poulenc Rorer to form Aventis, now based in Strasbourg, France. BASF SE () is a German chemical company and the largest chemical company in the world For other uses see Bayer (disambiguation or Beyer or Buyer. Bayer AG (German ˈbaɪə () is a German Rhône-Poulenc was a French chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1928 through the merger of Société des Usines Chimiques du Rhône (Rhône Chemical Plant Company Aventis was a pharmaceutical and lab assay testing company It was formed in 1999 when Rhône-Poulenc S Strasbourg (Strasbourg stʁazbuʁ Alsatian: Strossburi,; Straßburg) is the capital and principal City of the Alsace région This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

After the Holocaust, I. G. Farben joined with Americans to develop chemical warfare agents. Together they founded the "Chemagrow Corporation" in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City Missouri only Items for the metro area Kansas City Kansas or North Kansas City MO should go on their respective pages The Chemagrow Corporation employed German and American specialists for the U. S. Army Chemical Corps. Dr. Otto Bayer was I. Otto Bayer (1902&ndash1982 was a German industrial Chemist who was head of the research group that discovered the polyaddition for the synthesis of Polyurethanes G. Farben's research director. He developed and tested chemical warfare agents with Dr. Gerhard Schrader. Dr Gerhard Schrader ( 25 February 1903 &ndash1990 was a German chemist specializing in the discovery of new insecticides hoping to make progress in the

Even though the company was officially liquidated in 1952, it continued to be traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as a trust, holding a few real estate assets until it was finally wound up on November 10, 2003 by its liquidators. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange ( FWB Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) is a Stock exchange located in Frankfurt, Germany. Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions notably in the USA, United Kingdom Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. It had contributed 500,000 DM (£160,000 or €255,646) towards a foundation for former captive laborers under the Nazi regime. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The remaining property, worth DM 21 million (£6. 7 million or €10. 7 million), went to a buyer. During this lengthy period, the holding company had been continually criticized for failing to pay any compensation to the former laborers, which was the stated reason for its continued existence after 1952. The company, in turn, blamed the ongoing legal disputes with the former captive laborers as being the reason it could not be legally dissolved and the remaining assets distributed as reparations. Nevertheless, it refused to join a national compensation fund that was set up in 2001 to pay people who had suffered. ^[11] Each year, the company's annual meeting in Frankfurt was the site of demonstrations by hundreds of protesters. ^[12]

Holocaust Memorial controversy

In 2003 Degussa (now known as Evonik), a company closely associated with IG Farben during the Nazi period, was involved in a major controversy surrounding its involvement in the construction of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe ("Holocaust Memorial") in Berlin. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas also known as the Holocaust Memorial (German Holocaust-Mahnmal) is The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas also known as the Holocaust Memorial (German Holocaust-Mahnmal) is Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Degussa produced the anti-graffiti substance Protectosil used to cover the stelae which are the major element in the memorial. Protectosil is a Silane manufactured by Evonik and marketed a protective coating for building surfaces A stele (from Greek:, stēlē, ˈstiːli plural stelae,, stēlai, ˈstiːlaɪ also found Latinised singular stela The dispute arose mainly because Degussa had also owned 42. 2 percent of the shares in Degesch (a subsidiary), at the time when that company was producing Zyklon B. Zyklon B (tsykloːn ˈbeː also spelled Cyclon B or The board of trustees of the memorial ultimately decided that, given the cost of eliminating Degussa's role in the project at that relatively late stage, the use of Protectosil ought to continue, despite protests from many Jewish groups.

IG Farben in fiction

• Der Rat der Götter "The Council of the Gods" (DEFA 1951, director Kurt Maetzig) is an East German film about IG Farben's role in World War II and the subsequent trial. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Kurt Maetzig, (born January 25, 1911) is an East German film director See: Rat der Götter, Der at the Internet Movie Database
• I. G. Farben plays a major part in Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow. Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr (born May 8 1937 is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of Fiction. Gravity's Rainbow is an epic postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28 1973.
• I. G. Farben plays a part in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Notorious ( 1946) is a thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as
• I. G. Farben is a character played by Dennis Hopper in the film Straight to Hell (1987). Dennis Lee Hopper (born May 17, 1936) is an Academy Award -nominated American Actor and Film -maker Straight to Hell is a 1987 action - Comedy film directed by Alex Cox, featuring Sy Richardson, The Clash frontman
• I. G. Farben is the name on the business card that Bud (played by Harry Dean Stanton) gives out to Mr. Harry Dean Stanton (born July 14, 1926) is an American Actor. Pakman in the 1984 film Repo Man.
• I. G. Farben is one of Germany's most skilled research teams in the computer strategy game Hearts of Iron II. Hearts of Iron II is a Grand strategy Computer war game for the PC based upon its predecessor Hearts of Iron
• In William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice, the protagonist meets a fictionalized I. William Clark Styron Jr ( June 11 1925 &ndash November 1 2006) was an American Novelist and Essayist. Sophie's Choice is a Novel by William Styron published in 1979 G. Farben executive in pre-war Poland and during her internment at Auschwitz.
• I. G. Farben of Germany was mentioned to have taken over Du Pont in Kurt Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus. Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black Hocus Pocus is a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonnegut. Plot summary The main character is Eugene Debs Hartke, a Vietnam War
• Correspondence from I. G. Farben to the Commandant of Auschwitz requesting female prisoners to test a drug on is included in David Markson's novel Vanishing Point. "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany David Markson is an American author born in Albany New York in 1927 Vanishing Point is a 1982 novel by Victor Canning. This is one of Canning's last books and is lively and entertaining
• I. G. Farben is mentioned by the Wehrmacht commandant of Auschwitz in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1992). Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. Schindler's List is a Biographical film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian.

See also

• IG Farben Building
• Nerve agent
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Wiedergutmachung

References

Further reading

• Borkin, Joseph (1978). The Crime and Punishment of IG Farben. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-02-904630-0.  
• DuBois, Josiah (1952). The Devil's Chemists: 24 Conpirators of the International Farben Cartel Who Manufacture Wars. Boston: Beacon Press.  
• Hager, Thomas (2007). The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 1-4000-8214-5.  
• Profit Over Life--The Nuremberg Pharma Tribunal. www. pharma-over-life. org. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes.