The Wollheim Suit (1951–1957)
© Fritz Bauer Institut (Bestand Thomas Ormond)
As a survivor of the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp, Norbert Wollheim brought an action against I.G. Farben in Liquidation, seeking damages for pain and suffering and payment of the wages of which he had been deprived. His lawyer, Henry Ormond, filed a complaint with the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court (LG, Landgericht) on November 3, 1951. After a trial lasting about 18 months, the court found in Wollheim’s favor on June 10, 1953, and sentenced I.G. Farben to payment of 10,000 DM. The appeal proceedings in the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court (OLG, Oberlandesgericht; the court of second instance), in turn, ended two years later with a settlement between I.G. Farben on the one hand and Wollheim and the Claims Conference on the other hand, as a consequence of which a total of 30 million DM was paid to former forced laborers of I.G. Farben at the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp and/or the Fürstengrube and Janinagrube subcamps.
The Charge in Wollheim v. I.G. Farben
Witnesses in the Wollheim Suit
Summation of the Lawyers for Both Parties in the Trial Court (Frankfurt am Main Regional Court)
The Decision of the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court
The Settlement Negotiations between I.G. Farben i.L. and the Claims Conference
After the Wollheim Agreement: Payments to the Survivors
Who Received Compensation from I.G. Farben i.L.?