page_title: IG Farben
section_title: IG Farben trial
hierarchical_section_title: IG Farben / World War II and the Holocaust / IG Farben trial
caption_attribution_description: English: The defendants in the dock on the first day (August 27, 1947) of the IG Farben Trial. The defendants Brüggemann and Carl Wurster are missing. Brüggemann's case was dropped on September 9, 1947 due to medical reasons, and Wurster was arraigned only on September 17, 1947.Ελληνικά: Κατηγορούμενοι στη Δίκη της IG Farben Français&#160;: Procès d'IG Fargen (Nuremberg, 27 August 1947). Box des inculpés (dirigeants d'IG Farben), premier jour du procès (également filmé . Brüggemann et Carl Wurster sont absents. (le procès de Brüggemann a été abandonnée le 9 Septembre 1947 pour des raisons médicales, et Wurster n'a été interpellé que plus d'un mois plus tard, le 17 Septembre 1947)
context_page_description: Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG, commonly known as IG Farben, was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, Agfa, Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron, and Chemische Fabrik vorm. Weiler Ter Meer—it was seized by the Allies after World War II and divided back into its constituent companies.
  In its heyday, IG Farben was the largest company in Europe and the largest chemical and pharmaceutical company in the world. IG Farben scientists made fundamental contributions to all areas of chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry. Otto Bayer discovered the polyaddition for the synthesis of polyurethane in 1937, and three company scientists became Nobel laureates: Carl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius in 1931 "for their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high pressure methods", and Gerhard Domagk in 1939 "for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil".
  The company had ties in the 1920s to the liberal German People's Party and was accused by the Nazis of being an "international capitalist Jewish company".
context_section_description: In 1947 the American government put IG Farben's directors on trial. The United States of America vs. Carl Krauch, et al. (1947–1948), also known as the IG Farben trial, was the sixth of 12 trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) against leading industrialists of Nazi Germany. There were five counts against the IG Farben directors:
  "the planning, preparation, initiation, and waging of wars of aggression and invasions of other countries;
  "committing war crimes and crimes against humanity through the plunder and spoliation of public and private property in countries and territories that came under German occupation;
  "committing war crimes and crimes against humanity through participating in the enslavement and deportation for slave labor of civilians from German-occupied territories and of German nationals;
  "participation by defendants Christian Schneider, Heinrich Buetefisch, and Erich von der Heyde in the SS, a recently-declared criminal organization; and
  "participation in a common plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace".
  Of the 24 defendants arraigned, one fell ill and his case was discontinued. The indictment was filed on 3 May 1947; the trial lasted from 27 August 1947 until 30 July 1948. The judges were Curtis Grover Shake (presiding), James Morris, Paul M. Hebert, and Clarence F. Merrell as an alternate judge. Telford Taylor was the chief counsel for the prosecution. Thirteen defendants were found guilty, with sentences ranging from 18 months to eight years. All were cleared of the first count of waging war. The heaviest sentences went to those involved with Auschwitz, which was IG Farben's Upper Rhine group.  Ambros, Bütefisch, Dürrfeld, Krauch and ter Meer were convicted of "participating in ... enslavement and deportation for slave labor".
  All defendants who were sentenced to prison received early release. Most were quickly restored to their directorships and other positions in post-war companies, and some were awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. Those who served prison sentences included:
  Those acquitted included:
caption: The defendants in the dock on the first day of the IG Farben trial, 27 August 1947
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