In the civil lawsuit against I.G. Farben before the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court—which Norbert Wollheim, along with his attorney Henry Ormond, had brought, seeking compensation for the damage done to Wollheim by the “abuse” of his manpower—12 survivors of the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp, nominated by the plaintiff, gave testimony.

The former slave laborers at I.G. Auschwitz expressed their interest in the outcome of the litigation and, like the plaintiff Wollheim, asserted claims to damages in suits against I.G. Farben. Their statements backed up Wollheim’s charges in his action of November 3, 1951, regarding conditions on the I.G. plant grounds and in the SS-managed corporate concentration camp of Buna/Monowitz.

The witnesses described their experiences in detail and confirmed the following facts, laid to the charge of I.G. Farben: inadequate food rations for the prisoners; lack of protective and winter clothing; orders for corporal punishment issued to the SS by I.G. Farben master craftsmen, I.G. inspectors, and other civilians, often with devastating results for the concentration camp inmates; use of force at the I.G. Farben construction site by Kapos, foremen, and civilians; a murderous pace of work; participation by I.G. Farben employees in camp, block, and gate selections; limitation of the permissible length of stay in the prisoner infirmary; limitation of the size of the sick-prisoner population relative to the number of prisoners “fit for work.” Unanimously, the witnesses stated that with regard to the occupancy of the housing barracks, the quality of the sanitary facilities, and the conditions in the prisoner infirmary, the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp was a “bad,” a “terrible,” camp and in no way what the I.G. employees consistently asserted: a “normal” labor camp, comparable to the camps for civilian and foreign workers.

Wollheim’s lawyer, Henry Ormond, had chosen the witnesses carefully and summoned only those who could impress the court as being reliable and credible.

(WR; transl. KL)

Sources

Eli Aron Cohn, hearing of witness, November 20, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 132–133.

Paul Herzberg, hearing of witness, November 27, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 142R–146R.

Oskar Israel, hearing of witness, January 15, 1953. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. II, pp. 217R–221.

Benedikt Kautsky, hearing of witness, January 29, 1953. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. II, pp. 257–264.

Josef Löwenstein, hearing of witness, December 4, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 158R–164R.

Pinkas Ollstein, hearing of witness, December 11, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 181–184R.

Curt Posener, hearing of witness, November 20, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 127–132.

Jonas Silber, hearing of witness, October 29, 1953. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. II, pp. 243–248R.

Manfred Silber, hearing of witness, December 4, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 156–158R.

Marcel Stourdzé, hearing of witness, January 15, 1953. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. II, pp. 213–217R.

Robert Elie Waitz, hearing of witness, November 27, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 139R–142R.

Max Willner, hearing of witness, December 11, 1952. HHStAW, Sec. 460, No. 1424 (Wollheim v. I.G. Farben), Vol. I, pp. 177–181.