A Right to Plunder
Page 21
Anna Krantz and Emil Darius
Both characters are fictional, but Heydrich did have a sister named Maria and their mother’s maiden name was Krantz. Anna and Emil had an intertwined destiny. It seemed to be pre-ordained and decreed by an inevitable fate outside their control. The saga that Madelaine Bridon had unfolded to both of them that sultry afternoon in Lyon resulted in a convulsion of emotions that threatened their sanity. A maelstrom of turmoil swept suffocatingly over them. When Madelaine finished relating the story, she left them both to absorb what destiny had prepared for them. Looking at each other, a deep frisson of feeling fermented in their emotions and holding hands for the first time, it was as if the depravity that had brought them together was to be overcome by a process of restoration commanding their future. They both went to Basel in Switzerland and this time the money was released to Anna from the Bank for International Settlements. No comment was made in the bank relating to Alois Brunner's attempted withdrawal of the funds. Their intertwined lives culminated in their marriage some years later following successful musical careers – ironically on the day that their nemesis, Brunner, was being sentenced to death in absentia in Paris.
The O’Leary Line
The O'Leary Line was an escape route founded by Dr. Albert-Marie Guerisse and called after his Canadian friend Patrick O'Leary. A Belgian by birth, he had been recruited by Britain's SOE and established an escape route through occupied countries using safe houses and contacts favourable to the Allies, terminating in neutral Spain. The organisation had over 250 members and had assistance from all groups in society. Tailors for clothing, printers produced false identity papers, ration cards and anything else required. For his remarkable services to the allied cause, Dr. Guerisse was awarded the GC and DSO from Britain together with the Legion d’Honneur and Croix de Guerre from France. After the war, he returned to practice medicine in Belgium.
Allianz Insurance
The destruction of Jewish buildings throughout German on November 9th/10th 1938 (Kristallnacht), revealed the anti-semitic bias in the settlement claims policy of Allianz when Jewish reimbursement was paid to the German State. The notorious camps and ghettos of Lodz, Dachau and Auschwitz also featured in the Allianz Insurance portfolio. Class action lawsuits against the company for unpaid insurance policies taken out by Jewish victims resulted in millions of dollars being paid in compensation.
Ford Motor Company
Henry Ford was a confirmed anti-semite. The Ford manufacturing facility in Cologne was a major contributor to the motorised German army. Henry Ford was awarded the ‘Grand Cross of the German Eagle’ which was the highest honour available to a non-German. Hitler was a great admirer and kept a photograph of Ford in his office. The Washington Post (March 5th 1998) declared that Ford had been the ‘arsenal of Fascism’.
General Motors
The great icon of American business acquired Opel automotive manufacturer in Germany which went on to become the major provider of military mobilised trucks and tanks for the National Socialists. Opel’s plants also produced aircraft engines, land mines and torpedo detonators. When the allied invasion force swept into France on vehicles supplied by General Motors, they were met with corresponding vehicles manufactured by Opel.
IG Farben/Bayer
Bayer Chemicals, which is presently one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, was one of the original organisations that had ‘morphed’ into IG Farben prior to the Second World War. IG Farben manufactured synthetic rubber using slave labour from Auschwitz and infamously supplied the poison gas Zyklon B that killed millions. The company had over three hundred thousand workers and was a major contributor to the war economy of the Third Reich. One of its main board directors was Fritz Ter Meer who was charged at Nuremberg and convicted after the war along with other IG Farben directors of plunder, mass murder and enslavement. He was a member of the Nazi Party and was awarded the ‘Knights Cross’’ for his valued services to the Reich. Fritz Ter Meer served seven years in prison for these crimes. Upon release, he subsequently and unbelievably became chairman of the board of Bayer (which had once again become independent after the war) only dying in 1967.
Recommended Reading
IBM and the Holocaust. By Edwin Black. (Crown Books, 2001)
Unholy Trinity: The Vatican, The Nazis, and The Swiss Banks, Marc Aarons and John Loftus. (St. Martin's Griffin, 1998)
Hitler’s Hangman. Robert Gerwarth. (Yale University Press.2011)
America’s Nazi Secret, John Loftus. (Trine Day, Chicago, 2010)
Nazi Nexus : Edwin Black. Publisher: Dialog Press; First Edition edition (June 20, 2017)
PHOTO CREDITS.
Every attempt was made to identify copyright ownership of photos. Due to erosion of time and changes in title possession, it was not possible in some cases and errors may have presented. No copyright infringement is intended.
Brunner photograph courtesy of The Irish Times
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[1] Source: Lina Heydrich file, 1f 2M