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In the year 1942, we achieved the same turnover at Francolor that
Francolor had had in 1938, the last peace year.
Q. Mr. Ambros, what you
have just given us is the picture that you had when you were sent to Francolor
later?
A. Yes.
Q. And the ideas on the commercial side that
might have existed at that time, you could not say anything about them?
A. No, that had nothing to do with me. I had the very definite problem
of getting the French factories working after the campaign, in spite of all the
difficulties, and bringing them back to the old volume, if possible, that they
had before the war.
Q. But you did that without regard to the
commercial aspect?
A. I did that purely as a technical man.
Q.
Now in the field of the employment of Francolor in which you were interested,
did you have any difficulties?
A. Yes.
Q. What was their
nature?
A. They were manifold. Just to get a license alone, I had to
deal with the occupation authorities, and I had to act as if I were actually
one of the Frenchmen. I had to get permission for the railroad to bring in the
coal, or for the ships on the canal. I had to fight to keep the people in the
factory, and above all I had to manage to get the raw materials, benzene,
naphthalene — all the raw materials needed for benzene — because it
was only natural for the Wehrmacht to prefer to use benzene for fuel purposes
rather than for our chemistry.
DR. HOFFMANN: Your Honors, from Document
Book 8-a, I am going to offer Document OA-801, as Ambros Defense Exhibit 172.*
That is an affidavit by Dr. Ernst Roell, who, from 1934 to 1943, worked
for Otto Ambros as his specialist for foreign projects, and is today plant
leader and custodian of Anorgana G. m. b. H. at Gendorf.
It seems to me
that the letter or the statement of 31 March 1942 to the president of
Francolor, concerning the outcome of the conference of the Francolor technical
committee at Ludwigshafen, in March 1942, is important. At this conference, a
number of important technical measures were decided upon that were to be taken
by Farben for Francolor, and the affidavit reads: |
| |
“As a member of the
Francolor technical committee, I am in a position to state from personal
knowledge that the measures in favor of the Francolor factories, to be taken in
accordance with items 1-6 of the report as per enclosure, were in fact all
carried out. This fact was due mainly to the initiative of Dr. Ambros.”
|
| As a result of those measures, Francolor received the quotas of
coal, iron, and chemical raw materials necessary for the continued
operation |
___________
* Not reproduced herein.
166 |
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