I.G. Farbenindustrie - money in the shadow of death...

I. G. Farbenindustrie - a German chemical company founded in 1925, dissolved in 2012. During World War II, it was notorious because of its close cooperation with the SS, as well as the production of cyclone B and other chemicals.

During the war, I. G. Farbenindustrie was one of the main companies that supplied the Third Reich with the raw materials necessary for the war. The majority of employees were concentration camp prisoners and people sent to forced labor.

I.G. Farben produced advanced chemical products, for example: synthetic rubber, nickel, magnesium, sulfur, greases, poisons, plastics, dyes, artificial and synthetic fibers, explosives, nitrogen compounds and synthetic gasoline obtained from coal, as well as Cyclone B, which was used in gas chambers.

One of the company's branches was located in Monowice near the Auschwitz / Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Overall, the forced laborers from the Auschwitz camp during its operation were estimated at 400,000 prisoners.

The company decided to invest in the area of the Auschwitz camp due to its convenient location in terms of communication, access to cheap labor in the form of prisoners, and mainly due to abundance of mineral resources in Oświęcim and in the surrounding area (e.g. the aforementioned coal).

It is estimated that the group's profit in 1939-1945 reached 6 000 000 000 German marks.

In the years 1947-1948, as part of the Nuremberg trials, the so-called "IG Farben process" took place. 24 group directors were prosecuted. 13 of them were sentenced to imprisonment for the period varying from 6 months to 8 years.

It was also decided to completely liquidate the group and confiscate its assets. Ultimately, however, liquidation was abandoned and in 1951 the group was divided into enterprises. I.G. Farben was declared bankrupt in 2003. The company then paid compensation of 500,000 German marks to a foundation for former forced laborers in the Nazi Third Reich, while 21 million marks were left in reserve.