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| "Member of Nazi Party, German Labor Front, National Socialist
Lawyers' Association; member of 4 committees and several sub-committees of the
Reich Group Industry dealing with law, patents, trademarks, market regulations,
etc.; member of a large number of professional associations."]
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EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT
VON KNIERIEM*
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REDIRECT EXAMINATION
JUDGE HEBERT: Dr. von Knieriem, I
have one or two questions. Were votes ever taken at meetings of the Farben
Vorstand?
DEFENDANT VON KNIERIEM: I cannot remember that a formal
taking of votes had ever taken place. There may perhaps have been one
exception. We may have once done that when the contract between I.G. Farben and
I.G. Chemie was dissolved, but I am not quite sure about that.
Q. Then,
under the practice of not taking votes at the Vorstand meetings, was it
commonly understood by members of the Vorstand that when a report was made, if
dissent was not expressed, that that amounted to Vorstand approval of the
policy or action reflected in that report?
A. Yes, that's to be
assumed. That is, based upon the information of the various Vorstand members
resulting from any report.
Q. Would the situation be generally the same
with respect to the TEA?
A. Yes, if any decisions were reached in the
TEA and if there was no dissenting opinion, the situation would have remained
the same.
Q. If an important difference of policy arose within Farben,
where did the responsibility for resolving that difference of opinion lie?
A. According to the bylaws of the Vorstand, one could take a vote and
the majority would decide and, if the votes were equal, that party became
decisive which had the vote of the president [chairman].
Q. Are you
referring now to a vote in the Vorstand?
A. Yes.
Q. But you
recall only one instance in which there was a vote. I think that's all the
questions I have. |
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*Complete testimony is
recorded in the mimeographed transcript, 1, 6, 9, and 10 February 1918, pp.
6485-6715. Further extracts from the testimony are reproduced below in sections
VII I 6b; VII K 3b; VII L 3b: VII M 6b.
389 |
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