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88. In organizing the plunder of property in occupied territories and
countries, the means adopted varied from outright confiscation, which was
cloaked by the enactment of various sequestration decrees, to "negotiations"
with the owners of such property for its acquisition. This latter technique was
particularly used in the West. The German authorities made a pretense of paying
for all the property which they seized. This pretense merely disguised the fact
that the raw materials, machinery and other goods diverted to Germany were paid
for by the occupied countries themselves, either by the device of excessive
occupation costs or by forced loans in return for a credit balance in a
"clearing account" which was a nominal account only. The means adopted were
intended to, and did, effectuate the plans to strengthen Germany in waging its
aggressive wars, insure the subservience of the economy of conquered countries
to Germany, and secure the permanent economic domination of the Continent of
Europe. In the East, the German Government organized special corporations as
their trustees for the express purpose of exploiting seized industries in such
a manner that not only would the German war machine and its economy be
strengthened, but the local economy laid in ruin.
89. Farben marched
with the Wehrmacht and played a major role in Germany's program for acquisition
by conquest. It used its expert technical knowledge and resources to plunder
and exploit the chemical and related industries of Europe, to enrich itself
from unlawful acquisitions, to strengthen the German war machine, and to assure
the subjugation of the conquered countries to the German economy. To that end,
it conceived, initiated, and prepared detailed plans for the acquisition by it,
with the aid of German military force, of the chemical industries of Austria,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, France, Russia, and other countries. |
| |
| A. Farben in Austria |
| |
| 90. In Austria one of the two major chemical industrial firms was
the Pulverfabrik Skodawerke — Wetzler A.G. (Skoda-Wetzler Works),
controlled by the Creditanstalt Bank of Austria. The Rothschilds, a Jewish
family, owned a majority interest in this bank. With the invasion of Austria
and the introduction of the "Aryanization" program, the controlling Rothschild
interests in the Creditanstalt Bank were confiscated and turned over to the
Deutsche Bank. Thereupon Farben, which had sought unsuccessfully to acquire an
interest in the Skoda-Wetzler Works prior to the invasion, was quick to take
advantage of the changed situa- [...tion] |
41 |
. 
