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Abstract
German grand strategy during World War II included making Europe independent of oil imported from sources controlled by the United Kingdom, the United States, and the USSR. The first step was to wrest control of oilfields. Producing and distributing the oil, however, required the creation of a company capable of replacing the evicted British, American, and Soviet suppliers. Therefore, in 1941, the Third Reich established the Continental Oil Company. Analysis of the company’s foundation and operations sheds light on the objectives of the Third Reich, including the postwar economic development of Axis Europe and the extension of German hegemony beyond the USSR into the Middle East.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to the archivists of the British National Archives, the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, the Bundesarchiv (Berlin-Lichterfelde), the Politischen Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes, and the US National Archives and Record Administration for their assistance. Numerous colleagues assisted me over the course of writing and revising this article, but I want to make special mention of two of them: my friend Bjoern Hofmeister, and my Doktorvater David Painter. I wish, however, to dedicate this article to Dietrich Eichholtz in recognition of his pioneering work on the economic history of the Third Reich and of German oil imperialism in particular. Finally, this study is based entirely on declassified, publicly available records in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. The opinions expressed herein are entirely my own and not necessarily those of the US Government, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of the Navy, or the US Naval War College.
Notes
1 Raymond Stokes, ‘The Oil Industry in Nazi Germany, 1936–1945’, Business History Review 59/2 (1985), 254–77. On the pre-history of synthetic fuel in Germany, see Thomas Parke Hughes, ‘Technological Momentum in History’, Past and Present 44/1 (1969), 106–32; and Peter Hayes, Industry and Ideology: IG Farben in the Nazi Era (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1987), 37–42.
2 USSBS, Oil Division: Final Report (Washington DC: GPO 1945).
3 Joel Hayward, ‘Hitler’s Quest for Oil’, Journal of Strategic Studies 18/4 (Dec. 1995), 94–135. Brief mention of the company may be found in Hayes, Industry and Ideology, 255–7; Richard Overy, Goering (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1984), 119 and 132–3; and Adam Tooze, The Wages of Destruction (New York: Viking 2006), 392–3 and 586. Mazower and Stokes each devote only a single cursory mention to the company: Mark Mazower, Hitler’s Europe (New York: Penguin 2008), 291; and Stokes, ‘Oil Industry’, 255.
4 A.E. Gunther, ‘The German War for Crude Oil’, Petroleum Times, 8 Nov. 1947–8 May 1948: passim.
5 Franz Neumann, Behemoth (New York: Octagon Books 1963), 396; and Gunther, ‘Crude Oil’ (8 May 1948), 472.
6 Dietrich Eichholtz, ‘Öl, Krieg, Politik’, Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft 51/6 (2006), 503–10 and Deutsche Ölpolitik im Zeitalter der Weltkriege (Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag 2011), 323–50 and 387–466 (esp. 387–400); and Hanns-Heinz Kasper, ‘Das Erdöl in den Raubplänen des Deutschen Faschismus in Vorbereitung und bei der Durchführung des Zweiten Weltkrieges’, Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 3 (1976), 55–77 and ‘Die Mineralölpolitik des deutschen Faschismus und der Erdölbergbau in Deutschland 1933 bis 1945’, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Produktivkräfte 10 (1976), 47–9. See also, Rainer Karlsch and Raymond Stokes, Faktor Öl (München: C.H. Beck 2003), 208–17; and Titus Kockel, ‘Eine Quelle zur Vor-und Gründungsgeschichte der Kontinentale Öl AG aus dem Jahr 1940’, Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 1 (2003), 175–208 (esp. 191–7).
7 Wolfgang Birkenfeld, Der Synthetische Treibstoff, 1933–1945 (Göttingen: Musterschmidt-Verlag 1964).
8 Daniel Yergin, The Prize (New York: Simon & Schuster 1991), 328–50.
9 Tooze’s Wages of Destruction, passim (esp. 166–7, 510–11, and 658). See also, Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands (New York: Basic Books 2010), 161. For discussion of the influence of US-landed expansion upon the Nazi worldview, see Carroll Kakel, The American West and the Nazi East (New York: Palgrave 2011).
10 Mazower, Hitler’s Europe, 102–36.
11 Tooze, Wages of Destruction, 411–25.
12 Konti, ‘Förderung und Verbrauch von Erdöl in der Welt sowie regionale Verteilung der Welterdölausfur i.J. 1938’, May 1942, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 242: Foreign Records Seized, Microfilm Publication T-84, Reel 51, Item No. EAP 66-c-2-10/21. Unless otherwise indicated, all German-language sources are from NARA, RG 242. Since all documents included within RG 242 are available only on microfilm, I have used the following citation format: Microfilm Publication No./Reel No. (Item No.).
13 Reichsstelle für Bodenforschung (RfB), Erdöl in Europa und im nahen Orient (Berlin 1940). For a more detailed analysis of the Soviet oil industry, see RfB, Die wichtigsten Lagerstätten der Erde, Heft 4: Erdöl in Rußland (Berlin 1941).
14 RfB, Die wichtigsten Lagerstätten der Erde, Heft 21: Erdöl in Vorderasien (Berlin 1942).
15 Besides the sources cited below, see Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 326–31 and 387–91; and Kockel, ‘Eine Quelle’, 182–97.
16 For Bentz’s biography, see E. Seibold and I. Seibold. ‘Alfred Bentz – Erdölgeologie in schwieriger Zeit, 1938–1947’, International Journal of Earth Sciences 91 (2002), 1081–93. See also, Bentz’s self-serving autobiography, which he provided to British officials after the war: ‘Supplement to My Questionnaire’, 11 Feb. 1946, British National Archives (BNA), FO 1039/496.
17 Statistisches Reichsamt, ‘Die Mangelstoffe des mittel-europäisch-großdeutschen Wirtschaftsraumes’, June 1940, T-84/70 (EAP 66-c-12/11); Statistisches Reichsamt, ‘Rohstoffversorgung des mitteleuropäisch-großdeutschen Wirtschaftsraumes nach dem Kriege’, July 1940, T-84/70 (EAP 66-c-12/10); and Statistisches Reichsamt, ‘Rohstoffversorgung des europäischen Wirtschaftsraumes (ohne UdSSR), Teil II: Gewerbliche Rohstoffe und Genuβmittel 1938’, Oct. 1940, T-84/69 (EAP 66-c-12/8a).
18 Bentz, ‘Sicherstellung des europäischen Erdölbedarfs’, 24 July 1940, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Nr. 49459 (hereafter cited as BGR #); reprinted in Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 467–9. Emphasis in the original.
19 ‘Rohstoff Bilanz Europas ohne russichen Wirtschaftsraum und England’, 26 June 1940, no author, T-84/216 (EAP 66-c-12-62/29).
20 Göring to the Reich Commissioners for the Netherlands and Norway and the Military Commander in Belgium, 2 Aug. 1940, Document No. 278 in: Auswärtiges Amt (AA), Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918–1945, Series D (Washington DC: US GPO 1949–1983), x, 401–3.
21 ‘Vorschläge für wirtschaftliche Bestimmungen im Friedensvertrag mit Frankreich’, 25 June 1940, no author, Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes (PAAA), R 106289.
22 ‘Protokoll über die Sitzung in der Reichsstelle für Bodenforschung’, 14 Aug. 1940, PAAA, R 106289.
23 Peter Hayes, e-mail message to author, 26 Sept. 2010.
24 ‘Interrogation of Eric Neumann […], 7 Nov. 1946 […]’, NARA, Record Group 260: Records of US Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Records of the Office of Military Government for Germany (OMGUS), Records of the Property Division, Records of the Office Director, General Records, Box 9 (hereafter cited as RG 260, Property Division, Box #).
25 Fischer’s activities before 1940 is summarized in Kockel, ‘Eine Quelle’, 176–8. Tooze claims that Konti was ‘dominated by party men operating under the protection of Hermann Goering’. Tooze, Wages of Destruction, 393. It is unclear whether Fischer was ever a member of the Nazi Party, but he owed his position to his acknowledged expertise. Hans Kehrl, Krisenmanager im Dritten Reich (Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag 1973), 223 and 227.
26 Much of the increase in consumption would be due to the construction of large Autobahnen to connect the new empire. Jochen Thies, ‘Hitler’s European Building Programme’, Journal of Contemporary History 13/3 (1978), 415–6.
27 E.R. Fischer, ‘Die Versorgung Europas mit Mineraloel […]’, Sept. 1940, BGR, No. 49457; reprinted in Kockel, ‘Eine Quelle’, 198–208; and Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 470–3.
28 The following discussion builds on the path-breaking analysis of Dietrich Eichholtz in Deutsche Ölpolitik, 389–92.
29 Raeder may have been prompted by an undated memorandum (most likely from the spring of 1940) from the commander of naval forces in the Baltic, Admiral Rolf Carls, who argued that Germany ought to demand the ‘[surrender] of all rights in the Persian Gulf and the Persian-English oil facilities to Germany’. ‘Memorandum von Admiral Carls’, no date, reprinted in Michael Salewski, Die Deutsche Seekriegsleitung, 1935–1945 (Frankfurt am Main: Bernard & Graefe 1970–1975), iii, 105–20.
30 Raeder to Göring, ‘Ölversorgung’, 13 June 1941 (sic; 1940), T-77/1399.
31 Thomas, ‘Aktennotiz über den Vortrag beim Reichsmarschall am 6.11.40. in Beauvais’, 8 Nov. 1940, Hoover Institute, Nuremberg Records, Box 995 (PS-1456).
32 Göring to Raeder, 14 Nov. 1940, T-120/3671.
33 ‘File note by Hermann J. ABS […]’, 23 Jan. 1941, NARA, RG 238, National Archives Microfilm Publication T-301, Reel 89, Document NI-10797 – hereafter cited as NARA, RG 238, T-301/Reel No. (Document No.). Abs became the chairman of the bank from 1967 to 1974.
34 Bearers of ‘Name shares’ would possess 50 votes, whereas holders of ordinary ‘Bearer shares’ would enjoy only one vote per share. Wangler to Teisberg, 26 July 1946, NARA, RG 260, Property Division, Box 9.
35 ‘File note by Herman J. ABS […]’, 23 Jan. 1941, NARA, RG 238, T-301/89 (NI-10797). Many of the officials responsible for Nazi oil policy held leading roles within the company. Bentz, Keppler, Carl Krauch (Germany’s synthetic fuel czar), and Thomas all served as members of Konti’s Supervisory Board. Fischer of the RWM also held a joint appointment to both the Supervisory Board and the Managing Board. The membership list for both is attached to NARA, RG 238, T-301/18 (NI-2023).
36 Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 390.
37 Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 323–6. For an accounting of Konti’s assets in Romania on the eve of the latter’s surrender to the Soviet Union in Aug. 1944, see Eugen Halder, ‘Kontinentale Oel G.m.b.H. subsidiary, Bucharest’, 18 June 1946, NARA, RG 260, Property Division, Box 9.
38 ‘File note by Herman J, ‘ABS concerning a meeting at the Ministry of Economics to the founding of the Continentale Petroleum A.G.’, 23 Jan. 1941, NARA, RG 238, T-301/89 (NI-10797). For brief introductions to the Deutsche and Dresdner banks’ involvement with Konti, see Lothar Gall, et al., The Deutsche Bank (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1995), 327 and 336; Christopher Simpson (ed.), War Crimes of the Deutsche Bank and the Dresdner Bank (New York: Holmes & Meier 2002), 198–201 and 287–91; and Harald Wixforth, ‘Die Ausbeutung von Ressourcen im Zeichen der Kriegswirtschaft: die Kontinentale Öl AG’, in Johannes Bähr (ed.), Die Dresdner Bank in der Wirtschaft des Dritten Reichs (Munich: R. Oldenbourg 2006), 360–70.
39 For Göring’s invitation to the conference of 18 Mar. 1941 at the Preussenhaus, see ‘Letter of Goering […]’, 8 Mar. 1941, NARA, RG 238, T-301/18 (NI-2020). For a record of the meeting itself, see ‘Summary record on a conference re: Financial of Kontinentale Oel A.G.’, 18 Mar. 1941, no author, NARA, RG 238, T-301/18 (NI-2016). For an internal Deutsche Bank memorandum concerning the meeting, see Aktenvermerk, ‘Kontinentale Öl-Aktiengesellschaft’, no date or author (handwritten notation reads: ‘Kontinentale Öl-AG Gründung RM 30.000.000. Aktien 1941’), BA-B, R 8119/1826.
40 Göring to Deutsche Erdöl, et al., 20 Mar. 1941, enclosed with Neumann to Rasche, V.P. 4373/5, 20 Mar. 1941, attached to ‘Letter of Staatsekretaer Neuman [sic] to Dr. Rasche […]’, 20 Mar. 1941, NARA, RG 238, T-301/18 (NI-2018).
41 One of them brought the matter to the attention of the State Department by forwarding a copy of the aforementioned press release. ‘German Embassy Information Bulletin: Petroleum Autarchy’, 30 Apr. 1941, enclosed with Sheets (Vice President, Standard Oil Company of New York) to Dunn, 14 May 1941, NARA, Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of State (hereafter cited as RG 59), 862/6363/209. Emphasis in the original.
42 ‘Eine deutsche Oel-Holding: Gemeinschaftsgründung “Kontinentale Öl-AG”’, Berliner Börsen-Zeitung, Nr. 151 (30 Mar. 1941); ‘Die deutschen Erdölinteressen’, Wirtschafts-Beilage, 5. Beiblatt/Nr. 77 (30 Mar. 1941); and ‘Kontinentale Oel-AG., Berlin: Eine ölindustrielle Holdinggesellschaft für ausländische Petroleumbeteiligungen’, no date or author (handwritten notation reads: ‘Frankfürter Ztg 30.3.41’); all in: BGR 86537.
43 For example, the dossier on Konti compiled by the US Foreign Economic Administration included summaries of material compiled by the British Ministry of Economic Warfare. The dossier is enclosed with Charles Mayer to Brandon H. Grove, 6 Sept. 1944, NARA, Record Group 169: Records of the Foreign Economic Administration, Entry 360, Box 2201.
44 Morris to the Secretary of State, 2 Apr. 1941, NARA, RG 59, 862.6363/205.
45 Besides the German oil industry’s long history in Romania, during World War I, the so-called ‘Brennstoffkommando Arabien’ found small quantities of oil in Mesopotamia using ‘primitive methods’. Konti, Mineralöl-Archiv, ‘Wer erschloß Mossul-Öl? (Aus den Akten des Brennstoffkommandos Arabien)’, no date (handwritten notation indicates 5 May 1941), T-580/907 (Box 8, Ordner 56); and ‘Der Deutsche Anteil an der Erschließung des Iraköls’, no date or author, enclosed with Aktennotiz, ‘irakisches Erdöl’, 27 May 1941, T-77/1399 (Wi/IIA 5.1-2).
46 Smyser, ‘Formation of German Oil Trust’, 2 Apr. 1941, NARA, RG 59, 862.6363/206.
47 Woods, ‘Weekly Economic Background Report No. 40’, 7 Apr. 1941, enclosed with Naval Attaché (Berlin) to Director of Naval Intelligence, 15 Apr. 1941, NARA, Record Group 38: Chief of Naval Operations, Intelligence Division, Confidential Reports of Naval Attaches, Box 678.
48 Smyser, ‘Formation of German Oil Trust’, 2 Apr. 1941, NARA, RG 59, 862.6363/206.
49 Karlsch and Stokes, Faktor Öl, 208–11 (quotation from p. 211).
50 Andreas Hillgruber, Hitler, König Carol und Marschall Antonescu (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag 1954), 157–8; Stephen Howarth and Joost Jonker, Powering the Hydrocarbon Revolution, 1939–1973, vol. 2 of A History of Royal Dutch Shell (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2007), 29–34 and 69; and Karlsch and Stokes, Faktor Öl, 210.
51 Dienststelle des Beauftragten für den Vierjahresplan (BVJP), ‘Ergebnisse der Vierjahresplan-Arbeit’, BA-B, R 26 I/18.
52 Dr. vdW/Hof., ‘Memorandum über die Ergebnisse der Tätigkeit der Kontinentöl in Rumänien’, 17 Sept. 1943, T-401/2 (RBF 36).
53 Wiehl, Aufzeichnung, 26 Feb. 1941, PAAA, R 105991.
54 This recapitulation of Germany’s wartime oil policy vis-à-vis Romania is drawn from Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 332–50, 487–93, and 520–3; Gunther, ‘Crude Oil’ (18 Jan. 1948), 65–8 and 84; and Kasper, ‘Erdöl’, 62–8.
55 Germany would also take what it needed in the Caucasus. Rosenberg, ‘Über die Gestaltung Kaukasiens’, 27 July 1941, NARA, Record Group 238: National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records, National Archives Microfilm Publication T-988: Prosecution Exhibits Submitted to the International Military Tribunal, Reel 2 (USSR-58); quoted in International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals (Nuremberg, 1947–1949), vii, 326 (hereafter cited as IMT). Emphasis in original.
56 Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, trans., Hitler’s Table Talk (New York: Enigma 2000): No. 269 (26 July 1942).
57 Walter Levy, ‘Oil Drives Hitler’s Army’, Mar. 1942, American Heritage Center (University of Wyoming), Papers of Walter Levy, Box 1. See also, Walter Levy, Oil Strategy and Politics, 1941–1981 (Boulder CO: Westview Press 1982), 7–23 and 36–43.
58 Robert Paxton, Vichy France (New York: Columbia University Press 2001), 58–9.
59 Many executives at the bank never reconciled themselves to the loss of their oil properties in Romania and Iraq. Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 154–67 and 404–5.
60 Wittrock to Maulatz, ‘Unterredung mit Gulbenkian in Vichy am 14.2.1941’, 18 Feb. 1941, enclosed with Kuntze to AA, ‘Bericht des KVR Dr. Wittrock […]’, 24 Mar. 1941, Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (hereafter cited as BA-B), R901/116640. When he learned of the meeting, Keppler reminded the AA that Göring had decreed that Konti was responsible for ‘negotiations concerning foreign oil properties’. Any further dealings with Gulbenkian could be left to Fischer, ‘who for the time being was in charge of the affairs of Continental Oil’ and knew Gulbenkian personally. Keppler to Wiehl, ‘Vermerk zu Ha Pol II a 2190/41’, 12 Apr. 1941, BA-B, R910/116640.
61 Ettel to Berlin, 7 Apr. 1941, PAAA, R 106109. For earlier AA circular regarding the foundation of Konti, see Clodius to Ankara et al., 4 Dec. 1940; reproduced in Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 391–2.
62 Clodius to Tehran, 15 Apr. 1941, PAAA, R 106169.
63 Fritz Grobba, ‘Vordringen Deutschlands über den Kaukasus nach dem arabischen Raum’, 5 Feb. 1942, PAAA, BA 61123.
64 Grobba to the Office of the Foreign Minister, ‘Abschluß eines Rahmenvertrages mit Raschid Ali el-Gailani’, 10 Feb. 1942, T-120/773.
65 BVJP, ‘Ergebnisse der Vierjahresplan-Arbeit’, BA-B, R 26 I/18.
66 The Soviet prosecution at Nuremberg provided a historical summary of German planning for the despoliation of the Soviet Union. IMT vii, 158–345. For more measured surveys, see Alex Kay, Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder (New York: Berghahn 2006), passim (esp. 26–46).
67 Kehrl, Krisenmanager, 223.
68 Memorandum, ‘Conference at Office Chief, General of the Infantry Thomas on 28 February 1941, Re: Oldenburg’, 1 Mar. 1941, Document 1317-PS, reprinted in Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Washington DC: US GPO 1946), iii, 911–3 – hereafter cited as NCA; Chef WiRüAmt, ‘Vortrag bei Reichsmarschall Göring am 19.3.41’, 20 Mar. 1941, Nuremberg Records, Box 995 (PS-1456); VJP, ‘11. Sitzung des Generalrats vom 24. 6. 41 unter Vorsitz von Staatssekretär Körner’, no date, T-77/430 (Wi/IF 5.3593); and Thomas, ‘Vortrag beim Reichsmarschall am 26, 6. 1941’, 26 June 1941, Imperial War Museum (Duxford), FD 4809/45.
69 Lizzie Collingham, The Taste of War (London: Allen Lane 2011), 32–8.
70 Göring, ‘Richtlinien für die Führung der Wirtschaft […]’, June 1941, Document 1743-PS, IMT xxviii, 3–15. For the creation of the Wirtschaftsführungstab Ost and Wirtschaftsstab Ost, see ‘Conference with the Branches of the Armed Forces at 1000 hours on 29th Apr. 1941’, Translation of Document 1157-PS, NCA iii, 811–6; and Göring, ‘Richtlinien für die Führung der Wirtschaft […]’, July 1941, Document 472-EC, IMT xxxvi, 542–5.
71 Directive from Göring, 27 July 1941, BA-B, R 26 I/13. Emphasis in the original. For Hitler’s proclamation regarding the economic exploitation of the Soviet Union, see ‘Erlaß des Führers über die Wirtschaft in den neu besetzen Ostgebieten’, 29 June 1941, reprinted as Document 93 in Martin Moll (ed.), Führer-Erlasse, 1939–1945 (Stuttgart: F. Steiner 1997), 179–80.
72 ‘Erlaβ des Führers über die Verwaltung der neubesetzten Ostgebiete vom 17. Juli 1941’, reprinted as Document No. 74 in Helmuth Greiner and Percy Ernst Schramm (ed.), Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht (Frankfurt am Main: Bernard & Graefe 1961–1965), i, 1027–8.
73 Geo. W. Hirschfeld, an die Industrie- und Handelskammer, Bremen, 11 Oct. 1941, BA-B, R 8119/1825. Hans Kehrl (chairman of the textile monopoly) recalled that the inspiration for the creation of the company came from his friend, Fischer, who also informed him of Konti’s formation. Kehrl, Krisenmanager, 227.
74 Reich Minister for Economics to Kontinentale Oel, ‘Ref.: Russian Mineral Oil Economy’, 22 July 1941, NARA, RG 238, T-301/18 (NI-2021).
75 Karlsch and Stokes, Faktor Öl, 214–5. See also, Titus Kockel, ‘Geologie und Krieg: Die Erdölpolitik des Reichsamt für Bodenforschung und seiner Vorläufer, 1933–1945’, Master’s Thesis (Technische Universität, Berlin 1995), 43–53.
76 Göring to Keitel, et al., ‘Four Year Plan 19203/6 g.’, 20 Nov. 1941, NARA, RG 238, T-301/5 (NI-440).
77 ‘Vollmachterteilung für Herrn Bergassessor a.D. Schlicht’, 26 Nov. 1941, BA-B, R 176/1. For the company’s official financial statement regarding its first year of operations, see Kontinentale Öl Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin, ‘Jahresabschluß für das Geschäftsjahr 1941’, 29 May 1942, BA-B, R 8119/1825.
78 Thomas, ‘Ergebnis der Vorträge beim Reichsmarschall und bei Feldmarschall Keitel am 17. 7. 1941’, 18 July 1941, Hoover Institute, Nuremburg Records, Box 996 (PS-1456); and Karlsch and Stokes, Faktor Öl, 215.
79 Ost Öl’s capitalization was later raised to 4,000,000 RM. Konti to Members of the Supervisory Board, ‘Berichterstattung an den Aufsichtsrat’, 3 Feb. 1943, T-401/2 (RBF 35).
80 Konti did receive compensation for all of the equipment dispatched and then lost during the invasion of the Caucasus. ‘Interner Bericht an den Aufsichtsrat […]’, no date (circa 1943), T-401/2 (RBF 35).
81 ‘Minutes of the 2nd Meeting of the Aufsichtsrat of the Kontinentale Oel Aktiengesellschaft on Tuesday, 13 Jan. 1942’, NARA, RG 238, T-301/83 (NI-10162).
82 The planning and preparation for the occupation in the Caucasus in 1942 is summarized in Gunther, ‘Oil Fields Investigation, Part V, Section 1: Russia (USSR), The Caucasus Expedition, 1942–1943’, Mar. 1946, BNA, WO 252/1151; and Kockel, ‘Geologie und Krieg’, 54–64; and Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 447–51.
83 Göring to Thomas, ‘Mineralölwirtschaft in den besetzten russischen Gebieten’, 16 July 1942, T-77/1058 (Wi/ID. 29).
84 For a complete set of the instructions to the TBM, see Keitel to TBM, ‘Mineralölwirtschaft in den besetzten sowjetischen Gebieten’, 28 July 1942, T-77/1058 (Wi/ID. 29).
85 Enclosed with Göring to Konti’s Managing Board, ‘Einsatz im Osten’, 10 July 1942, BA-B, R 176/111. Eichholtz claims that Göring issued a decree in Sept. 1941 assigning to Konti concession rights in the Soviet Union, but the language he quotes is identical to the aforementioned 1942 contract, which Eichholtz does not mention. Eichholtz, Deutsche Ölpolitik, 390.
86 Dihlmann and Dorn to the Supreme Command of the United Forces, Paris, ‘List of Personnel of the Kontinentale Öl Aktiengesellschaft and Affiliated Companies’, 29 May and 6 June 1945, BNA, FO 1039/496.
87 To the Political Adviser on German Affairs, Berlin, 11 Dec. 1945, NARA, RG 59, 862.6363/12-1145.
88 Murphy to the Secretary of State, 4 Mar. 1946, NARA, RG 59, 862.6363/3-446.
89 OMGUS, ‘Research Report Covering Documentary Material of Kontinentale Oel A.G.[…]’, 10 Aug. 1946, enclosed with Murphy to the Secretary of State, ‘Transmitting Report on Investigation of Kontinentale Oel, A.G., Berlin’, 29 Aug. 1946, NARA, RG 59, FW 862.6363/8-2946; and Jules Wangler, ‘Supplement to Report Covering Documentary Material of Kontinentale Oel A.G. […]’, 1 Dec. 1946, enclosed with Murphy, ‘Report on Investigation of Kontinentale Oel A.G., Berlin’, 17 Jan. 1947, NARA, RG 59, 862.6363/1-1747.
90 Hayes’ Industry and Ideology is the most important study of IG Farben during the Third Reich, and his most important findings are summarized in his ‘Industrie und Ideologie’, Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte, 32, Jahrg, H. 2. (1987), 124–36.
91 For a more critical perspective that stresses the IG Farben’s ‘absolutely unique place in the Third Reich’, see Tooze, Wages of Destruction, 227–30.
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Anand Toprani
Anand Toprani received his BA in History from Cornell University, MPhil in Modern European History from University College, Oxford, and PhD in History from Georgetown University. He joined the faculty of the US Naval War College as an Assistant Professor of Strategy & Policy in October 2013.