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[defend...] ants Duerrfeld, Gattineau, von der Heyde, and Kugler,
were not members of the Vorstand but held places of importance with Farben.
If we emphasize the defendant Krauch in the discussion which follows it
is because the prosecution has done so throughout the trial and has apparently
regarded him as the connecting link between Farben and the Reich on account of
his official connections with both.
Krauch became a member of the
Vorstand in 1933 and continued in that position until 1940, when he became a
member of the Aufsichtsrat. From 1929 to 1938 he was Chief of Sparte I.
In 1934, Hitler turned his attention to the rearmament of Germany and
sought to impress industry with the necessity of participating therein. It was
then sought to encourage rearmament through an industrial organization of which
Farben was a member, known as the Reich Group Industry. At that time the
industries were asked to work out detailed plans for protecting their plants
from the results of air raids. Krauch was later given duties in connection with
the planning of air-raid protection, which resulted in a reprimand from Goering
in Hitler's presence in 1944. He was accused by Goering with failure to
properly plan and supervise air-raid protection for plants that were being
severely bombed by Allied air forces. It may be noted that this is the only
instance in which the defendant Krauch talked to Hitler. In 1934, it was
decided to create a “War Economic Central Office of Farben for all matters
of military economy and questions of military policy.” Krauch was
instrumental in organizing this agency, known as Vermittlungsstelle W, the
purpose of which we have concluded to be to act as a clearing house for
information concerning rearmament between the various plants and agencies of
Farben and the Reich authorities in charge of the rearmament of Germany. It
received and distributed information, but it was not an agency for determining
policy or for the giving of orders regarding a policy that had already been
determined. It did facilitate the cooperation of Farben with the rearmament
program, but it was not a planning organization. It was a part of the program
for rearmament, but neither its organization nor its operation gives any hint
of plans for aggressive war.
In 1936, Krauch joined Goering’s
staff for Raw Materials and Foreign Currency which had just been set up, and
was put in charge of the Research and Development Department. When this staff
was absorbed into the Office of the Four Year Plan, headed by Goering, Krauch
retained the same position in the Office for German Raw Materials and
Synthetics. This office was later renamed the Reich Office for Economic
Development when it was placed under the Reich Ministry of Economics.
Shortly after the announcement of the Four Year Plan, in September
1936, Hitler appointed Goering as commissioner to carry out the
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