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the industrial chemicals manufactured by the said I. G.
Farbenindustrie.
From 1925 on, Dr. Fritz ter Meer, having become one of
the leading directors of the I. G. Farbenindustrie A. G., my contact with him
became more frequent and constant.
I can testify most emphatically,
before God and before all men, that Dr. Fritz ter Meer has always conducted
himself, in all circumstances, as a true gentleman, holding himself above every
attack and criticism and displaying always the most exemplary objectivity.
With particular reference to the period October 1943 to April 1945,
that is during the time that Dr. Fritz ter Meer was acting in Italy as the
Commissioner of “RuK” [Reich Ministry for Armament and War
Production] for the chemical industry, the undersigned, by reason of his
office. arid his work, and the fact that the German authorities were in
complete control of all industrial activity, had frequent occasion to come into
contact with the said gentleman and to observe his activities, and I am able to
testify that the said Dr. Fritz ter Meer, in carrying out his tasks always
conducted himself in an absolutely correct manner, never departing from the
economic realm or acting for political motives.
The undersigned is able
to testify from his own knowledge, that during that period, Dr. Fritz ter Meer
used his ability and endeavors to place Italian industry again on a sound
footing, more, especially the more important factories, which, owing to various
causes, were either closed or were producing only a fraction of their normal
capacity.
Of particular importance to Italian agriculture was the
resumption of the production of synthetic fertilizers on the basis of nitrogen.
It should also be put on record that Dr. ter Meer succeeded, by having various
factories declared "protected industries," in preventing a large number of
workers from being sent to Germany who otherwise would automatically have been
selected and transported by force to the German factories.
The
undersigned also knows that during the last weeks of his stay in Milan Dr. ter
Meer took it upon himself to intervene with the various German authorities so
that in the event of a withdrawal by the German troops from Italian soil, the
destruction of factories might be avoided. This he did, as he himself told me,
out of a feeling of friendliness towards the Italian people and because we
wished to avoid Italy's being deprived of the possibility of recovering by
destruction on the scale contemplated, without at the same time affording that
help to the German cause it might have been thought to achieve. |
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[Signed] CARLO FERRARIO
Carlo Ferrario, Cavaliere del Lavoro
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810 |
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