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PHOTO ARCHIVE OF I. G. FARBEN PRESIDENT AND WAR

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:240.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
PHOTO ARCHIVE OF I. G. FARBEN PRESIDENT AND WAR
PHOTO ARCHIVE OF I. G. FARBEN PRESIDENT AND WAR CRIMINAL HERMANN SCHMITZ
HERMANN SCHMITZ (1881-1960) German industrialist and Nazi war criminal. Schmitz served as CEO of the notorious industrial company I. G. Farben from 1935 to 1945. Collection of dozens of photographs of Schmitz and direct family members discovered in an estate in the U.S. Included are eleven photos of the war criminal from all stages of his life, including a carte de visite as a teenager, a casual photo from 1900, two images in uniform, five later poses, a family photo, a photo in his office, etc. Also present is the period typescript in English of a broadcast Schmitz made from Berlin on NBC radio on Dec. 2, 1931, issued by NBC radio, 8pp. 4to., in which Schmitz discusses the German debt to the Allied nations. Also present are a few photos each of his brothers OTTO SCHMITZ who was killed at Verdun, ALFRED SCHMITZ, also killed at Verdun, and WILHELM SCHMITZ, EMIL SCHMITZ, and DIEDRICH "DIETZ" SCHMITZ, from whose family these images apparently originated. About 150 additional photos are included, almost all family snapshots ranging from the Twenties to the Sixties, showing family matriarch Louisa, Diedrich, Hermann, and a variety of other relatives in such expensive locales as Rock Ridge in Greenwich, Ct. (possibly with fellow Nazis), Swiss ski areas, Bermuda, etc., and a 1933 bronze medallion, 5 ?" dia., honoring mother Louisa. Not surprisingly, none of the photos have any connection with any Nazis, swastika emblems, or any such World War II German association. Diedrich Schmitz was president of I.G. America, I.G. Farben's American branch which became General Aniline and Film and is alleged to have remained under Nazi influence. Hermann Schmitz came to I.G. Farben after having been employed at BASF. Prior to the war, Farben owned a large percentage of Standard Oil, as well as dozens of other international industrial firms, and Schmitz maintained excellent relations with them up until war broke out. In 1938, Schmitz was also named war economy administrator (Wehrwirtschaftsfhrer). At war's end, he was arrested and tried in the I. G. Farben war crimes trials for the use of slave labor and indirect murder of prisoners, though little mention was made of Farben's licensing of the manufacture of Zykon-B. Sentenced to four years, Schmitz later served as an administrator of Deutsche Bank and became honorary president of "Rheinische Stahlwerke AG". His enormous wealth, which he claimed was confiscated or otherwise lost, likely was distributed elsewhere.