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continued. He said that he had observed such phenomena in the United
States: Whenever American industry and specifically Standard Oil
gave information to Germany, they had to inquire of the War Department in
Washington whether the War Department was willing to have this information
given to Germany.
I told him that we had similar arrangements. We also
had to inquire, but in view of the needs of industry, and especially the export
industry, these inquiries were handled generously, so that I had no misgivings
about continuing the exchange of experiences in the future. |
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* * * * * * * * * * |
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b. Testimony of Defendant von Knieriem |
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EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT VON
KNIERIEM* |
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DIRECT EXAMINATION |
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* * * * * * * * * * |
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DR. PELCKMANN (counsel for defendant von Knieriem) Now, we must deal
with another point in somewhat more detail. That is patents. The prosecution
has charged that Farben took special measures in cooperation with the German
Wehrmacht in order to keep patents and processes secret from other countries in
the interests of German rearmament. Those are points 20 and 21, and 50, and
following in the indictment.
My question is, did Farben have any
interest in keeping patents and experiences secret from other countries?
DEFENDANT VON KNIERIEM: No.
Q. But surely Farben had to observe
the legal provisions. What legal provisions were in effect before 1933?
A. Before 1933 there were provisions against military treason and also
the so-called Espionage Law of 3 June 1914, which punished anyone who had
intentionally given writings, drawings, or other objects, the secrecy of which
was required in the interest of the country, into the hands or to the knowledge
of another, and thereby endangered the security of the Reich.
Inventions are not mentioned in this law. Then there was the secret
patent law which reads as follows: If a patent is of interest for the
purposes of the Army and the Fleet, then by application the patent will be
issued without any publication. In this case, registration in the list of
patents will not be made.
There were similar rules in England and
France. I did not know that before 1933 these regulations were of any
significance for Farben. |
__________ * Further extracts are
reproduced above in subsections IV, VII I 6b, and K 3b, and below
in subsection M 6b.
1312 |