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Q. I now come back to the mobilization preparations for Ludwigshafen.
You said that the Berlin authorities were of the opinion that Ludwigshafen, in
the event of war, could not continue to produce. Can you give me proof of the
correctness of this statement? Can you find any proof for this in the documents
already in evidence?
A. Yes; for example, in a letter from the Reich
Ministry of Economics to the Vermittlungsstelle W, of 5 July 1939, Document
NI-7121,¹ Prosecution Exhibit 230, book 8,
English page 122, German page 139.
Q. What was the practical result of
the attitude of the authorities in Berlin on the question of the production at
Ludwigshafen in the event of war?
A. There were two practical results.
First, no big expansion was to be planned at Ludwigshafen. Secondly, the idea
was discussed that part of the production installations at Ludwigshafen should
be moved to better protected areas; for example, Central Germany. One could do
little against the first idea. I more or less sabotaged the second idea because
I did not think there would be a war, and therefore I thought it madness to
ruin this beautiful factory by dismantling its apparatus. Therefore, my experts
on mobilization questions had instructions to procrastinate and to see that
nothing foolish was done.
Q. Can you perhaps find any confirmation in
the documents in evidence for your policy of procrastinating in mobilization
questions and preventing any foolish mutilation of your plant?
A. Yes,
I find such a confirmation for example in Document EC-97, Prosecution Exhibit 229,² book 8,
English page 117, German page 135. This is a file note of a conference at the
Control Office Chemistry on 26 October 1938 — no, excuse me, that is the
wrong date — 8 December 1938. The conference was on 6 December; the
document was drawn up on the 8th.
Q. Excuse me for interrupting you. In
presenting this document on 4 September 1947, the prosecution pointed out that
according to this document, Ludwigshafen had asked the authorities whether, in
case of emergency, Ludwigshafen would be able to produce. The prosecution added
that this was a clear case in which the initiative came from Farben. Will you
please comment on that?
A. I do not recall that I myself saw this
document before the trial. It is an official document. I gather from the
contents that Dr. Moll from Ludwigshafen was present during the discussion.
Q. Who was Dr. Moll? |
__________
¹ Reproduced in part
in 2 above.
² Reproduced in full in 2 above.
1151 |
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