I.G Farben Trial
(August 27, 1947 - July 30, 1948)
The I.G. Farben Trial, the sixth subsequent Nuremberg
proceeding, was tried by the Military Tribunal VI, which had been created
by the U.S. Military Government for Germany on August 8, 1947. An indictment
was filed on May 3 naming twenty-four defendants, all in the IG Farben
industrial concern, and listing five counts: the planning, preparation,
initiation, and waging of wars of aggression and invasions of other
countries; committing war crimes and crimes against humanity through
the plunder and spoliation of public and private property in countries
and territories that came under German occupation; committing war crimes
and crimes against humanity through participating in the enslavement
and deportation for slave labor of civilians from German-occupied territories
and of German nationals; participation by defendants Christian Schneider,
Heinrich Buetefisch, and Erich von der Heyde in the SS,
a recently-declared criminal organization; and participation in a common
plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace.
The trial began with the twenty-four defendants but
ended with only twenty-three, after the case against Max Brueggemann
was discontinued on September 9, 1947, because of illness. The trial
ran from August 27, 1947, to June 11, 1948, making it the third longest
Nuremberg proceeding after the main
IMT trial and the Ministries Case (the eleventh subsequent trial).
The Tribunal returned its judgment on July 29 and 30, acquitting all
of the defendants on counts one and five, and the three defendants charged
in count four. Nine of the defendants were found guilty of the charges
in count two and five were found guilty of the charges in count three.
Altogether, ten of the defendants were acquitted completely. The thirteen
defendants found guilty were sentenced on July 30, receiving prison
terms ranging from one and one half years to eight years in prison,
including time already served.
Carl Krauch : 6 Years Imprisonment
Hermann Schmitz : 4 Years Imprisonment
Hans Kugler : 1 Year Imprisonment
Georg von Schnitzler : 5 Years Imprisonment
Fritz Gajewski : Acquitted & Released
Heinrich Hörlein : Acquitted & Released
August Knieriem : Acquitted & Released
Fritz Ter Meer : 7 Years Imprisonment
Christian Schneider : Acquitted & Released
Otto Ambros : 8 Years Imprisonment
Max Brüggemann : Severed from the Case (Due to Illness)
Ernst Burgin : 2 Years Imprisonment
Heinrich Bütefisch : 6 Years Imprisonment
Paul Häfliger : 2 Years Imprisonment
Max Ilgner : 3 Years Imprisonment
Friedrich Jähne : 1 1/2 Years Imprisonment
Hans Kühne : Acquitted & Released
Carl Lautenschläger : Acquitted & Released
Wilhelm Mann : Acquitted & Released
Heinrich Oster : 2 Years Imprisonment
Carl Würster : Acquitted & Released
Walter Dürrfeld : 8 Years Imprisonment
Heinrich Gattineau : Acquitted & Released
Erich von der Heyde : Acquitted & Released
Sources: Skalman |