Glossary

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Summation of Henry Ormond in the Appellate Court

 a  “The situation of Auschwitz was unique. And it will and must—as this trial must help ensure—never occur again. The great and heavy burden of guilt that Farben has incurred is something the firm must settle with itself […] Because Farben, which was able to satisfy its stockholders and former employees, Farben, which pays the pensions of its previous top executives, who in some cases have incurred great guilt, this very Farben firm to this day has not been able to spare one red cent for the few thousand survivors of the hell of Buna-Monowitz.”

(Henry Ormond, summation in the appellate court, March 1, 1955. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. G Farben), Exhibits, Vol. II, 8 pages, p. 2 (emphases in the original). (Transl. KL))

As in his earlier trial-court summation, Henry Ormond primarily opposed two assertions: first, that Wollheim’s complaint was based on the decision in the I.G. Farben trial in Nuremberg—quite the reverse, Ormond always invoked a damage suit in keeping with the Civil Code (BGB), that is, with German law. And second, in response to I.G. Farben’s assertion that the workforce from the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp had been forced upon the firm, Ormond specified numerous contemporary statements by I.G. Farben managers that proved the exact opposite.

 

In addition, by describing the terrible living and working conditions of the Buna/Monowitz prisoners, Ormond sought once again to emphasize the direct responsibility of I.G. Farben and its employees for the prisoners’ lot.  a  He summarized the contradictoriness of the lines of reasoning employed by I.G. Farben’s lawyers and witnesses. Ormond explicitly ruled out any liability for damages on the part of the Federal Republic of Germany.

 

In conclusion, Ormond appealed to the court: “Your Honors, I expect from you a decision that sees things as they really were, and not as people would like to construe them today, retroactively […] With your decision, restore to the plaintiff and all those who were kept by the accused in dread and fear and torment, in terrible conditions, their faith in the law and in justice.”[1]

(SP; transl. KL)



Material

[pdf] Plädoyer_Henry Ormond_OLG Ffm_01.03.1955 (in German; Archive of the Fritz Bauer Institute)

 

Sources

Proceedings, 3rd Civil Chamber of the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court, May 11, 1953. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. III, p. 422.

Henry Ormond, summation in the appellate court, March 1, 1955. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Exhibits, Vol. II, 8 pp.

 

Literature

Rumpf, Joachim R.: “Der Fall Wollheim gegen die I.G. Farbenindustrie AG in Liquidation.” Unpublished dissertation, Leibniz University, Hanover, 2007.

[1] Henry Ormond, summation in the appellate court, March 1, 1955. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Exhibits, Vol. II, 8 pp., here p. 8 (original emphasis). (Translated by KL)