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Reich War Ministry, the Reich Ministry of Economics and the
Reichstelle Chemistry. [NI-8883, Pros. Ex. 201; NI-8881, Pros. Ex. 203; NI-8504,
Pros. Ex. 204; NI-8886,
Pros. Ex. 206; NI-8890, Pros. Ex. 207; N1-8780, Pros. Ex. 208.]
These plans for mobilization within Farben were repeatedly discussed in
such important Farben Committees as the Technical Committee and the Commercial
Committee. They were known to the responsible "technical" members of Farben's
Vorstand and to the leading "commercial" members of the Vorstand. [NI-8777, Pros. Ex. 198;
NI-8776, Pros. Ex. 199; NI-9051, Pros. Ex. 200.]
Immediately prior
to the invasion of Poland, Farben's Leverkusen plant was notified on 26 August
1939 by secret letter from the Military Economics Department, Duesseldorf
[NI-4635, Pros. Ex. 260] that personnel in military important plants had to
remain on the job and instructions were issued "for the duration of military
measures." Vermittlungsstelle W issued notification and instructions to
Farben's plants on 28 August 1939 that it could be reached on a 24-hour basis
[NI-8778, Pros. Ex.
262]. The Hoechst plant of Farben received on 30 August 1939 the necessary
shipment papers for the first 14 days of the mobilization from the Military
Economics Department, Kassel. [NI-7382, Pros. Ex. 263.]
So
complete was Farben’s cooperation and planning that Farben’s plants
all had their assigned war production tasks which became operative when Germany
attacked Poland in September of 1939. Vermittlungsstelle W merely had to advise
the TEA office of Farben on 3 September 1939 [NI-2765, Pros. Ex. 264]
that it was necessary for " * * * all IG plants to switch at once to the
production outlined in the mobilization program." Subsequently on 6 September
1939, the Vermittlungsstelle W informed the various Farben plants that the war
delivery contracts, some of which had been concluded in 1938, became effective
immediately. [NI-8882,
Pros. Ex. 266.]
c. The Four Year Plan and Economic
Mobilization of Germany for War. Germany’s planning of measures of
rearmament and reorganization of the economic life of Germany “was done on
a vast scale and with extreme thoroughness.” The following facts found by
the IMT are pertinent here: |
| |
“It was necessary to lay a
secure financial foundation for the building of armaments, and in April 1936
the Defendant Goering was appointed coordinator for raw materials and foreign
exchange, and empowered to supervise all State and Party activities in these
fields. In this capacity he brought together the War Minister, the Minister of
Economics, the Reich Finance Minister, the President of the Reichsbank, and the
Prussian Finance Minister to discuss problems connected with war mobilization,
and on 27 May 1936, in addressing these men, Goering opposed any financial
limitation of |
1249 |
. 
