Tea-Sitzung, Leuna am 26.5.41, Inoffizieller Teil [Meeting of the "Technical Committee" on 26 May 1941, Leuna, unofficial part]. Leuna, Germany, 1941. German.
Booklet with a printed poem and twenty-six illustrated cards (mounted on leaves), prepared for a meeting of the directors of IG Farben, the main chemical manufacturer of Nazi Germany.
The corporation IG Farben (Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie) was founded in 1925, holding a near monopoly on the production of chemicals in Germany. With the rise of the Nazis to power, most of its directors joined the party and maintained close relations with members of the government. Among other things, the corporation operated the factory Buna Werke near the Auschwitz camp (most of the factory's workers were prisoners from the camp), sped up the construction of concentration camps, and was responsible for producing the deadly gas Zyklon B (listed as the company's "patent"). Due to their deeds, in 1947 most of IG Farben's directors were tried at the Nuremberg trials.
The present booklet was apparently printed for the entertainment section of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the company's founding, and it includes a humoristic poem about the company's history, as well as twenty-six printed cards showing photomontage works with photographs of the directors and color caricatures. Among other things, the cards show the portraits of Karl Krauch (chairman of the company's board of directors and a member of the office of Hermann Goering), Fritz Ter Meer (in charge of building the Buna Werke plant), and others.
25 leaves, approx. 29.5X21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Light creases. Small tears to margins. A tear repaired with adhesive tape to margins of the last leaf. Open tears to upper margins of front binding and first two leaves (small, without damage to text).