Customer Reviews

The Crime and Punishment of I.G. Farben

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I read this book about 6 years ago when I was still in college. I bought it for a quarter at a fund raising book sale the english dept had put together. Always interested in history, particularly WWII, I found I couldn't put this book down. Written in a style which can be enjoyed by academics and casual readers both, the book gives insight into the little known capitalistic aspects of the holocaust. I, for one, was well read on WWII but knew nothing of the gross injustices of the private sector in regards to the Holocaust. Especially, surprising was learning that some concertration camps were built and run not by Nazis but by a privately owned corporation.
Truly an intense and eye-opening read.

I purchased this book over 20 years ago after hearing about it on Paul Harvey. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII. It is an eye-opener and reveals many things not regularly taught about the war, including how American companies were directly involved. Not for the weak.

It documents that present day companies, including one whose commercials repeatedly use the word trust, once engaged in world domination, slave labor, and mass murder. This is the kind of book publishers are scared to print and sellers don't want to carry. Because of that, and its depressing story, it will fade away. Amazon is probably the only place you can get it... for now.

Without I.G. Farbin Hitler could not have come to power. It is interesting how U.S. industry giants initially aided Farbin and the extent to which Farbin became corrupted. The comapny was broken up after the war and became: Hoescht, Bayer, and BASF.

I read this book many years ago when I was working for Hoechst Animal Health in the US, since sold to Intervet AH and then Schering Animal Health. I was told to read this by a fellow employee due to my heritage. I found the book to be very interesting and detailed, it still sits in my library as I will not part with it after it taking me 1/2 a year to find a copy, and I was luck due to the condition of the one I received. There were war criminals in Germany in all aspects of IG Farben, there had to be, IG Farben had to lend a hand to Hitler or loose the company as a whole. Does this make it right, you bet it does not and since leaving Hoechst I ironically work for another or the old IG Farben companies, but as an old friend told me, each day I get a paycheck I get a little more even. Here is the sad part of this story, after the allies left, many if not all of these war criminals that headed up these companies were released from prison and placed in positions of corporate power once again...so there was no longer an IG Farben but there was Hoechst and Agfa (since sold and lost), Bayer and I believe two other companies, including one that made an agricultural GAS that they put an odor into to warn it's users of how deadly it was and to not breath it in. Hitler demanded that this odor be removed and yes, this was the GAS that killed the 6 + million. So while this book review is lacking in detail due to how long it has been since I have read it, it was my bible in figuring out how someone with my ethnicity could remain working for 2 companies so complicate in killing and using as slaves before killing them, so many of those with the same heritage as mine. If you want to know about a company with no conscience then do read this book.