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made by different persons. The fact is that in other departments
copies of these minutes have been found.
Q. Do you mean to say,
Witness, that quite apart from the extent of this operation even today there
are files available about important business transactions?
A. In the
majority of cases, yes, but on many things which were, for instance, stamped
"top secret," files are no longer in existence today. But the files concerning
the normal, the real Farben business, were preserved.
Q. If I
understand you correctly, all the matters stamped "top secret" were not matters
concerning real Farben business, were they?
A. Not sales business, at
any rate.
Q. Were any files destroyed later, Herr von Heider?
A. After the occupation by the Americans, no. You know, we wanted to
preserve a number of documents which we considered important for the war; they
were evacuated to Sackenbach, near Lohr, on the Main River. Bussmann went with
them. Herr Bussmann destroyed some files there, but only up to the time when
the town was occupied, or rather, when he went on to another place and
destroyed some more documents, up to the day when the Americans arrived in the
second town.
Q. Witness, will you please answer the following question?
Who was in the main administration building after the occupation? Was it left
to Farben or was it taken over by the occupational powers for their own
purposes?
A. No. I was in Bad Nauheim at the time, but according to
what I heard, the Farben people were removed completely; the occupational
authorities took charge and the so-called displaced persons, people who had
been forcibly brought to Germany to work, were temporarily quartered there, and
these people destroyed many documents. Besides, when the building was cleared,
more documents were lost because we were hurried and were told to take only the
most important things with us.
Q. Witness, is it correct that you and a
number of your colleagues, among others also my client, tried to stop this
continuing destruction?
A. Yes, that is correct. And Herr Koehler, in
addition to your client, was also very active in this.
Q. Is it true
that one of these three gentlemen approached the city commandant, and asked him
to see to it that this material should not be destroyed?
A. I was told
that later. I was not present myself. I told you I was temporarily not present.
Q. In this connection, let me put the following question: If,
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