Book: The Devil’s Chemists: 24 Conspirators of the International Farben Cartel Who Manufacture Wars by Josiah DuBois Jr.
Discover the chilling true story of the industrial titans who bankrolled Hitler and built the machinery of the Third Reich! This explainer video delves into the unprecedented 1947 Nurnberg criminal trial of the 24 Conspirators of the International Farben Cartel—the notorious I.G. Farbenindustrie—charged with preparing and waging aggressive war, plunder, and mass murder. Learn how Josiah E. DuBois, Jr., leading the prosecution team alongside key staff members Drexel Sprecher and Belle Mayer, sought to hold these “Generals in Gray Suits” accountable for crimes previously unseen in history.
Totalitarian Industry: Fueling World War II
Explore how Farben, described as a “Threat to World Peace”, wielded influence over every aspect of life, from medicines (like aspirin and atabrine) and dyes to advanced synthetics. The video uncovers the secret military coordination office, the Vermittlungstelle Wehrmacht (V.W.), masterminded by Carl Krauch (Goering’s General Plenipotentiary), which directed Germany’s feverish rearmament.
See how the scientific geniuses of the Vorstand (Board of Directors) drove the war machine through pivotal technologies:
Dr. Fritz ter Meer, the leading buna rubber expert, masterminded the synthetic rubber program.
Christian Schneider and SS Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Buetefisch dominated synthetic fuel production, accelerating the output of Leuna gasoline, diesel oil, and methanol.
The cartel secured strategic war materials like magnesium and aluminum and supplied nearly all of Germany’s explosives and gunpowder.
Industrial Robbery and Global Deception
Discover the extensive corporate espionage and calculated plunder. Chairman of the Vorstand, Hermann Schmitz, worked alongside legal chief August von Knieriem to secretly shield Farben’s assets from seizure by the Allies, notably through concealed ownership of the General Aniline and Film Corporation via I.G. Chemie, Basel. Learn how commercial chief Baron Georg von Schnitzler directed the ruthless conquest of European competitors like Skodawerke-Wetzler in Austria and Prager Verein in Czechoslovakia through threats and bribes (The “short thrust”).
Auschwitz: The Ultimate Crime
The explainer video presents the horrific details of Farben’s crimes against humanity. Witness the testimony detailing the construction and operation of the enormous, infamous I.G. Auschwitz (Buna-Monowitz) plant, where 100,000 inmates cycled through forced labor. Learn how Dr. Otto Ambros, the plant’s manager, and engineer Walter Duerrfeld utilized slave labor under brutal conditions, achieving a staggering human turnover. The video also covers the medical experiments directed by Nobel Prize winner Heinrich Hoerlein, involving the testing of drugs (like Methylene Blue and typhus vaccines) on helpless concentration camp inmates. Furthermore, Farben affiliates produced and supplied the infamous poison gas, Zyclon B.
Judgment and Legacy
Witness the controversial outcome of the trial, where, despite overwhelming evidence, key industrialists—including Krauch, Ter Meer, Schmitz, and Ambros—were acquitted of the primary charge of “aggressive war”. See how many of these convicted men, like Max Ilgner and Fritz Gajewski, were released shortly after sentencing and returned to powerful positions in the resurrected German industry, highlighting the complex political forces and post-WWII fear of Communism that shaped the judgment.
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