Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12460, Hermann Schmitz

Hermann Schmitz (1 January 1881 – 8 October 1960) was a German industrialist and

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

war criminal. CEO of IG Farben from 1935 to 1945, he was sentenced to four years in prison in the

IG Farben Trial ''The United States of America vs. Carl Krauch, et al.'', also known as the IG Farben Trial, was the sixth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) after the end of World War ...

Biography

Schmitz was born in Essen on 1 January 1881, son of factory worker Diedrich Schmitz and Luise Wöhrmann. In 1898 he began studying at ''Ahrenbergische Aktiengesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb'' in Hessen, and in 1905 he entered the Commerce College in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. After completing his studies, he was hired by ''Metallurgische Gesellschaft'' (metallurgy company), where after some time he became consultant of Wilhelm Merton, member of the supervisors' council of the company, who helped Schmitz promote his career. In 1914 he was required to serve in the army. He was injured during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and, after recovering from his injuries, he was made Reich's supervisor for chemical products production in the matériel department (1915). In 1919, as an expert in fertilizers and nitric salts, he took part in the assembly that negotiated the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. There he met

Carl Bosch Carl Bosch (; 27 August 1874 – 26 April 1940) was a German chemist and engineer and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was a pioneer in the field of high-pressure industrial chemistry and founder of IG Farben, at one point the world's largest ...

, a chemist of worldwide fame. In July 1919 Schmitz was hired at

BASF BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...

by Bosch as his financial advisor. He was promoted to administrator of BASF's exterior department, a position he maintained after the company became part of IG Farben. As per his job requirements he maintained contacts with large businesses, such as Standard Oil, with which he took part in negotiations, always having the support of that era's governments in the interests of IG Farben.

War crimes

In 1933, he was elected to the Reichstag under the administration of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and after two years, he succeeded

as IG Farben's CEO. In 1938, he became war economy administrator (Wehrwirtschaftsführer). In 1941,

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

gave him a portrait of him with his autograph as a gift for his dedication to the aims of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Schmitz led IG Farben until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He was arrested and charged at the

, during which he was sentenced to four years imprisonment (including time already served) for war crimes and crimes against humanity through the plundering and spoliation of occupied territories. He was released in 1950 and went on to become member of the administrators' council of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, as well as the honorary president of "Rheinische Stahlwerke AG". Schmitz died in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

on 8 October 1960.

Sources

Wollheim Memorial

* *Higham, Charles (1983) Trading with the Enemy; An exposé of the Nazi – American Money Plot 1933–1949. Robert Hale, London. Chapter 8 'The Film Conspiracy'

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, Hermann 1881 births 1960 deaths Businesspeople from Essen 20th-century German businesspeople IG Farben people German industrialists German chemical industry people People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals German people convicted of crimes against humanity Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany German Army personnel of World War I