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| [stabil…] izers, of course, also served for powder for hunting,
for purposes of sport and for sport ammunition of all kinds, and so on. Then
there are various minor things which have also been mentioned here —
decontamination agents — that's a rather minor thing — and then the
well-known Losantin. |
| |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
| |
| b. Testimony of Defendant von Knieriem |
| |
EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT
VON
KNIERIEM¹ |
| |
| DIRECT EXAMINATION |
| |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
DR. HOFFMANN (counsel for defendants Ambros and von der Heyde): Do
you know anything about the Montan contracts?
DEFENDANT VON KNIERIEM:
Yes.
Q. Can you tell me approximately what a Montan contract is?
A. Yes. The procedure in the case of Montan contracts was as follows.
First of all, a contract was concluded between Farben and the OKW.² We
called this a “cover contract.”³ If it has been translated as
“cover agreement,” it is probably correct, but I want to say that
“cover” does not mean that it was covered up as a secret matter. It
was an omnibus contract, a cloak agreement to a certain extent.
This
cover contract usually contained the following. Farben was to undertake to
erect a certain plant at the expense of the High Command and on territory
belonging to the High Command. Farben was to be in charge of construction and
erect the buildings, and should then operate the plant on the basis of a lease
or management contract. That was, so to speak, the basic contract, which
provided for further construction contracts, and lease contracts.
Now,
the OKW founded the Montan-Aktiengesellschaft for the interests of the Reich,
which was owned by the Reich to the extent of 100 percent. Farben, so far as I
remember, founded Luranil, a construction company, and then Montan and Luranil
concluded a construction contract. As far as the operation of the |
__________
¹ Further extracts are
reproduced above in section IV D. and section VII I 6 6b; and below in
subsections L 3b and M 6b.
² Actually such contracts were concluded
between Farben and the OKH (High Command of the Army) and not the OKW (High
command of the Wehrmacht). This mistake is made by the defendant von Knieriem
throughout his answer to Dr. Hoffmann's question.
³ Examples of cover
agreements between Farben und the High Command of the Army (OKH) may be found
in the following exhibits; Document NI 6146 Prosecution Exhibit 626, dealing
with the construction of a stand-by plant at Huels for the production of
diglycol oxol I. oxol II. acetophenone, ethyl alcohol; Document NI-4989.
Prosecution Exhibit 126. concerning the building of the Dyhernfurth plant for
the production of product G, the poison gas tabun. Neither of these exhibits is
reproduced herein.
1242 |
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