SARIN Nerve Gas, I.G. Farben, and the Nazis

Tags

Auschwitz concentration camp, BASF, Bayer, Chemical Weapons, Cyclosarin, Dow Chemical, Fritz ter Meer, Gerhard Schrader, Hitler, I.G. Farben, IG Farben, Kurt Hansen, Monsanto, Nazi Germany, Nuremberg, Otto Ambros, Sarin, Soman, Tabun, Third Reich, U. S. Army Chemical Corp, War Crimes Chemical Weapons Bayer, Weapons of Mass Destruction, WWI, WWII

Bundesarchiv Bild 175-04413, KZ Auschwitz, Einfahrt, Stanislaw Mucha, 1945
“IG Farben was founded on December 25, 1925, as a merger of the following six companies:
BASF
Bayer
Hoechst (including Cassella and Chemische Fabrik Kalle)
Agfa
Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron
Chemische Fabrik vorm. Weiler Ter Meer” (Emphasis added) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben

I.G. Farben, Werke Monowitz, 1941, KZ Auschwitz-Monowitz (Auschwitz III)

SARIN nerve gas stands for Schrader, Ambros, Rüdiger and Van der Linde, its discoverers. If we have been surprised to learn that a notorious and important Japanese fascist, Nobusuke Kishi, was little punished for his crimes, and is the grandfather of current Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi), we are more shocked that those closely involved in Nazi crimes were little punished and sometimes walked free.

While many common folk in Germany, especially those still children, or not yet born in the Nazi era, have engaged in self-flagellation over the crimes of the Third Reich, real criminals involved with the regime have walked free and prospered. Were they set free in order to obtain the formulas of these chemical weapons? Or was there another reason?

While the German consumer carries the weight of the taxation for the shift to green energy, heavy industry and the chemical industry have refused to pay their share. Some of these chemical-heavy industrial companies are the same ones who either actively supported or at least benefitted from Hitler’s policies. [See notes at very bottom of post]

Clearly the world lives in more than the long shadow of Nazi Germany. We live with the same corporations, the same mentality, we live with the legacy of chemical weapons, nuclear energy, and nuclear missiles and more. It seems that the Allies lost the war, not only in Japan, but also in Germany. Is that why Obama is trying to import German nuclear waste to dump on America?

Gerhard Schrader, the “S” in Sarin, “discovered several very effective insecticides, including bladan (the first fully synthetic contact insecticide), and parathion (E 605). In 1936, while employed by the large German conglomerate IG Farben, he was experimenting with a class of compounds called organophosphates, which killed insects by interrupting their nervous systems. Instead of a new insecticide, he accidentally discovered tabun, an enormously toxic organophosphate compound still sometimes stockpiled today as a nerve agent. During World War II, under the Nazi regime, teams led by Schrader discovered two more organophosphate nerve agents, and a fourth after the war:
Tabun (1936)
Sarin (1938)
Soman (1944)
Cyclosarin (1949)” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schrader
(Emphasis added) Schrader seems not to have even been prosecuted for war crimes! More on him further down.

“=> IG FARBEN was closely involved in the war of conquest of the Third Reich. The company followed the armed forces into the conquered countries of Europe and took over considerable parts of the chemical industry there within a few weeks. It also took coal mines and oil production. The later Chairman of the BAYER Board of Management, Kurt Hansen, played a leading role in these robberies.
=> In the war criminal trials in Nuremberg, IG FARBEN also faced a trial of its own. One section, for example, states the following: ‘It is undisputed that criminal experiments were undertaken by SS physicians on concentration camp prisoners. These experiments served the express purpose of testing the products of IG FARBEN.”
=> The managers condemned in Nuremberg were able to continue their careers unhindered after sitting out their sentences. Fritz ter Meer, for example, became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BAYER. During his interrogation in Nuremberg, he said that the slave laborers in Auschwitz had ‘not been made to suffer particularly badly as they were to have been killed anyway.”
=> In BAYER laboratories, research was carried out into chemical war gases. The inventor of SARIN and TABUN, Dr. Gerhard Schrader, was head of the BAYER pesticides department after WW II. During the Vietnam war, BAYER was involved in the development of AGENT ORANGE. Production was carried out at the firm MOBAY, founded jointly by BAYER and MONSANTO“. Excerpted from: “Press Release, March 21, 2013, Coalition against Bayer Dangers, 150th anniversary / Countermotions to shareholder meeting: BAYER: Company History Whitewashed” (Emphasis added; this and more: http://www.cbgnetwork.org/4930.html)

Bayer claims it is no longer a legal entity related to IG Farben, and yet:
“PRESS RELEASE, November 14, 2006, Coalition against Bayer Dangers,
BAYER honours war criminal Fritz ter Meer
— Why, three months ago, in November 2006, did the modern Bayer Corporation place a wreath from the “Bayer Board of Trustees and Supervisory Board” at the grave site of convicted Nuremberg war criminal Fritz ter Meer?
— Why does the post-1952 Bayer Corporation currently administer a scholarship fund named for this same individual?” See more here: http://www.cbgnetwork.org/1695.html

“Fritz ter Meer (July 4, 1884 – October 27, 1967) was a German chemist and Nazi war criminal.

From 1925 to 1945 Fritz ter Meer was on the board of IG Farben AG. He was involved in the planning of Monowitz concentration camp, a satellite camp of KZ Auschwitz. Fritz ter Meer was sentenced to seven years in prison in the Nuremberg Trials in 1948. After he was released in 1951 he became upervisory board chairman (Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender) of Bayer AG.
….
He was released early in the summer of 1950 because of ‘good behavior’ in prison for war criminals from the prison in Landsberg and was given the removal of the restrictive clause of the Allied War Crimes Act No. 35 in 1956 and became Chairman of Bayer AG. In subsequent years, he also took on board positions at a number of other companies, including, inter alia, Theodor Goldschmidt AG, Commerzbank AG, Bank Association, Duewag, VIAG and Union Bank AG, West Germany. His achievements in the reconstruction of the chemical industry in Germany are considered significant.” (Emphasis added; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_ter_Meer)
For those who think that “ter” is a typo, it is not. It appears likely regional dialect for “der”. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krefeld

The “A” in SARIN stands for:
“Otto Ambros (19 May 1901 – 23 July 1990) was a German chemist and Nazi war criminal, notably involved with the research of chemical nerve agents…. Beginning in 1926, Ambros worked at BASF in Ludwigshafen. In 1930 he spent a year studying in the Far East.

From 1934 he worked at IG Farben, becoming head of their Schkopau plant in 1935. His division of IG Farben developed chemical weapons, including the nerve agents sarin (in 1938) and soman (in 1944). In this capacity, he was an advisor to Carl Krauch, a company executive.

Ambros then managed the IG Farben factories at Dyhernfurth, which produced sarin and soman, and at Gendorf, which produced mustard gas, a skin irritant. In 1944 he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of War Merit Cross. He was an expert on tabun, an extremely lethal chemical.

Arrest
Ambros was arrested by the US Army in 1946. He had tested poisons and chemicals on concentration camp inmates, and had overseen the IG Buna Werke rubber plant at Auschwitz. At Nuremberg in 1948 he was sentenced to eight years confinement, and was ultimately released from Landsberg Prison early in 1952.

Release from prison
After his release, he became an adviser to chemical companies such as J. Peter Grace, Dow Chemical, as well as the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, and Konrad Adenauer.” Emphasis added; References and more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Ambros)

Ambros got a light sentence considering his crimes and was let out early! And, went on to advise for Dow Chemical and the US Army Chemical Corps! There is something strange here.

Interior of gas chamber, Stutthof concentration camp, Public Domain via Wikimedia

According to Corporate Watch:
“5.1. Bayer and War Crimes
Chemical Weapons

Bayer is implicated in the development of chemical weapons. During WW1 Bayer was involved in the development and manufacture of a range of poisonous gasses used in the trenches, including chlorine gas and mustard gas. As part of IG Farben, Bayer were also involved in the development of the next generation of chemical warfare agents, toxic organophosphate compounds. Tabun was first examined for use as an insecticide in late 1936 in a program under the direction of Dr. Gerhard Schrader at the Bayer facility at Elberfeld/Wuppertal. An accidental exposure of Dr. Schrader and a laboratory assistant to Tabun vapors made it quite clear that this compound had potential military applications. Tabun was then mass produced by IG Farben during WWII although it was never used as a weapon. Schrader was also responsible for the discovery of related, but more toxic, nerve agents including Sarin and Soman.[213] Whilst working on chemical weapons Schrader discovered the chemical compound E 605, the principle ingredient in the pesticide parathion. After the post-war dissolution of IG Farben, Schrader continued to develop pesticides for Bayer. After World War II, Bayer and other companies began to introduce a large number of organophosphorus compounds, including parathion, into the marketplace for insect control. The difficulty with organophosphates (OPs) is that they are neurotoxic due to their effects on acetycholinesterase, and unfortunately this enzyme occurs in humans as well as in insects.[214]

The links between chemicals developed as ‘pesticides’ with chemicals suitable for weapons has continued at Bayer. In 1989 it was revealed that Bayer hold a patent for a compound chemically identical to the VX gas used by the US military. The compound was discovered by Gerhard Schrader, and was patented in Germany in 1957, and in the US in 1961. Bayer claim that the compound was developed as a potential pesticide and that the US military application of the compound has nothing to do with them.[215]

Bayer, IG Farben and World War II: Slave Labour and Deadly Gas

Bayer (along with BASF and Hoechst) was an original member of the IG Farben group. During WWII, IG Farben built a synthetic rubber and oil plant complex called Monowitz close to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Inmates worked as slave labour for IG Farben,[216] and when they were too weak to work they were killed in the gas chambers. IG Farben subsidiary Degesch manufactured Zyklon B, the gas used in the concentration camp gas chambers.[217]

Bayer head Carl Duisberg personally propagated the concept of forced labour during WW1.[218] The company placed itself under a large burden of guilt due to its heavy involvement in the planning, preparation and implementation of both world wars. The International War Crimes Tribunal pronounced the company guilty for its share of responsibility in the war and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship.

On 29 July 1948, sentences for mass murder and slavery were handed down at the Nuremberg trials to twelve Farben executives. The longest sentence of only seven years was dealt out was to Dr. Fritz ter Meer, a top executive and scientist on the IG Farben managing board.[219]

After the war, IG Farben separated into three giant corporations: Bayer, Hoechst and BASF. On 1 August 1963, Bayer celebrated its 100th anniversary at the Cologne fairgrounds. The opening speech was delivered by Dr. Fritz ter Meer, not only out of prison but – a convicted mass murderer -elevated to the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer.[220]

More than eight million people had to do slave work for the Nazi war industry, and none ever received compensation from the companies or the government. David Fishel, one of the few survivors of the camp, sued the companies for compensation. When he was 13 he was forced to work for IG Farben carrying 50-kilo bags of coal and cement when he weighed only 75 pounds.[221]

Bayer, IG Farben and Human Experiments[222]

IG Farben also conducted experiments on humans. Eva Mozes Kor, among the 1,500 sets of twins experimented on by the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, claims that IG Farben monitored and supervised medical experiments at the Nazi concentration camp where she was interned. She claims the experiments involved toxic chemicals that IG Farben (Bayer) provided. In some of the experiments, the lawsuit states, prisoners were injected with germs known to cause diseases, ‘to test the effectiveness of various drugs’ manufactured by IG Farben. Mengele conducted genetic experiments there in an effort to create a super race of blonde, blue-eyed Aryans who would be born in multiple births. Both Kor and her sister survived their 10-month ordeal in the concentration camp and were liberated by Soviet troops in January 1945. They were nearly 10 years old. According to Irwin Levin (Kor’s Lawyer), IG Farben paid Nazi officials during World War II for access to those confined in the camps and collaborated in Nazi experiments as a form of research and development. The lawsuit sought unspecified punitive damages and the recovery of profits it maintains IG Farben (Bayer) earned as a result of such research.

Eventually Eva Kor and various others were paid out of a fund put up by the German government and the companies. Bayer gave 100 million German Marks to the fund. The entire fund (totalling 10 billion German Marks) was a result of various American lawsuits – without the loss of reputation in the US the companies would never have agreed.

Bayer and the Congo War [223]

A recent report commissioned by the UN Secretary General stated that the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) centred on the control of five mineral resources, including colombite-tantalite or coltan.[224] Coltan is a hardening agent for metal used in the manufacture of electrical products. In October a report listed H.C. Starck (a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer AG), as the buyer of over 80% of the coltan originating in the DRC.[225] By purchasing coltan from one or other of the warring factions in the DRC, H.C. Starck have been fuelling the two-year conflict. The fighting has killed over 250,000 people, and a million people have been displaced in East Congo.” (Emphasis added; references and much more about Bayer at link: http://www.corporatewatch.org/company-profiles/corporate-crimes-3)
The throwing of chemical weapons into the trenches, where the soldiers were hiding, is what made World War I one of the most horrific wars, if not the most: “The first killing agent employed by the German military was chlorine. Chlorine is a powerful irritant that can inflict damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. At high concentrations and prolonged exposure it can cause death by asphyxiation. German chemical companies BASF, Hoechst and Bayer (which formed the IG Farben conglomerate in 1925) had been producing chlorine as a by-product of their dye manufacturing. In cooperation with Fritz Haber of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutefor Chemistry in Berlin, they began developing methods of discharging chlorine gas against enemy trenches. According to the fieldpost letter of Major Karl von Zingler, the first chlorine gas attack by German forces took place before 2 January 1915: ‘In other war theaters it does not go better and it has been said that our Chlorine is very effective. 140 English officers have been killed. This is a horrible weapon…”. (Emphasis added) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_weapons_in_World_War_I

US National Archives, Nuernberg War Crime Trials, USA v. Carl Krach et. al. (Case VI), Aug. 14, 1947-July 30, 1948, Roll 13 (red markings added). Full documents and much, much more at: http://www.profit-over-life.org

NOTE Regarding Chemical and Heavy Industry and Energy Policy:

“Berlin and the Commission have been at odds over the German policy under which consumers pay a surcharge to finance renewable energy while heavy industrial users are exempt… Chemical and steel companies, which are big electricity users, have attacked plans to amend the surcharge system, with BASF saying they send a ‘disastrous signal’ which ‘casts doubt on Germany as an investment location…” (“UPDATE 1-Merkel to push back against EU if green energy support questioned” Posted:Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:43:26 GMT, Read article here: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/USenergyNews/~3/KChla63lvUY/story01.htm)

“German cabinet set to approve flagship renewable energy reform
Posted:Mon, 07 Apr 2014 17:24:51 GMT, BERLIN, April 8 (Reuters) –
From the article:
“Gabriel has helped ensure that the remaining 1,600, such as BASF and ThyssenKrupp, are likely to continue to be exempt, saving them some 5.1 billion euros per year.” Read article here: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/USenergyNews/~3/0D7G3du_nqM/story01.htm

See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASF
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-17/eu-may-allow-renewable-energy-linked-aid-to-62-industries.html