I.G. Farben Trial in Nuremberg (1947/48)
© National Archives, Washington, DC
In the sixth trial subsequent to the Trial of the Major War Criminals in Nuremberg (Case VI), starting in May 1947, 24 I.G. Farben executives were arraigned before an American military tribunal, charged with planning and preparation of wars of aggression, plundering and spoliation of annexed and occupied countries, and participation in the slave labor program and policy of genocide of the National Socialist regime. During the proceedings, the prosecution and the defense exhibited countless numbers of documents, including photos of the construction site annotated by the factory manager of I.G. Auschwitz, Walther Dürrfeld. Numerous witnesses were heard, including survivors of the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp and former British prisoners of war from I.G. Auschwitz. In late July 1948, the sentence was pronounced: 10 of the defendants were acquitted of all charges, and 13 were sentenced to prison terms, none exceeding eight years. In 1951, the last of the men convicted were pardoned and released from prison.