Nazi's iron hoof became the brilliant pioneer of IG company: every time the Germans captured an area, IG company would take the chemical plant there as its own.
At the beginning of the war, the successive victories of the Germans made IG Faben make a windfall: 1932, the company's total income was only 48 million marks; But by 1943, the number had increased to an astonishing 822 million marks.
1942, IG faben built a concentration camp factory in monowitz, No.3 camp of Auschwitz, taking advantage of its special relationship with SS, so IG faben became the only enterprise in the Third Reich with its own concentration camp. The harsh living environment and heavy physical labor have turned this concentration camp factory into a hell on earth: the average life expectancy of workers in this factory is only three months. The SS sent 300,000 workers here, but at least 30,000 people did not leave. In this cursed history, IG Faben seems to be a prehistoric monster that has been ruthlessly swallowed and rapidly grown. In the rolling dividend of the war, IG method has accelerated the pace of technological innovation. Before World War II, from 1925 to 1930, the number of plastic patents granted by IG company was twice as much as that obtained in the past 140 years. In the field of vinyl resin, the global patent of 1/4 is also recorded in IG Faben's name. During World War II, the proportion of research and development expenditure of IG company in sales revenue ranked first in the world. Crazy R&D activities have brought about great changes in the global chemical industry: after World War II, the proportion of group patents rose rapidly, and the era of individual heroism in the chemical industry came to an end. During the period from 193 1 to 1945, the number of international patents applied for and approved by IG company reached 889, accounting for13 of the top 30 chemical companies in the world at that time and 17% of the patents of global chemical companies. During this period, DuPont Company of the United States obtained 3,265,438+0 patents, which only accounted for more than 30% of the company's IG achievements in the same period, but it was enough to make DuPont rank second among global industrial enterprises. By 1943, France monopolized the output of synthetic rubber, methanol and lubricating oil of Germany100, as well as 98% of dyes, 95% of toxic gases (including all Chikelon B) and nickel, 90% of plastics, 88% of magnesium, 80% of explosives and 70%. After 1943, with the retreat of the German army, IG France declined rapidly, and its factories all over Europe became important targets of allied air strikes. In ludwigshafen, a factory of IG Faben Company was bombed 652 times by allied forces in just two years. By the end of the war, IG France was completely under the control of allied forces: 60% of its assets were in Soviet-occupied areas, 20% in French-occupied areas, 1 1% in British-occupied areas, and the remaining 9% and the most important headquarters were in American-occupied areas. A large number of trade secrets were subsequently transferred to Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union. Shortly after the war, the United States achieved catch-up in the chemical industry. In the global 10 chemical enterprises, the United States occupies 8 seats in one fell swoop. Even so, United Group, as the successor of IG, still ranks second in the world, second only to DuPont. For the destruction of the chemical industry in IG France and Germany, the allies at this time are determined to win.