Heinrich Gattineau
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Gattineau was a German
economist
, Strumabteilung (SA} leader, director of IG Farben
and defendant during the Nuremberg trials
.
, the son of Julius Gattineau, a German dentist who had established a practice in Romania
. The young Gattineau was initially educated in Switzerland
before being sent to high school in Munich
, ultimately studying economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, completing his doctorate in 1929. He took a minor role in local politics, serving with the right-wing Bund Oberland in 1923. He married Dr. Wera Fritzsche, with whom he had five children, in 1929.
to attack IG farben in his speeches due to the presence of some Jewish executives in prominent positions. Fearing the growth of Hitler and the potential ramifications for the business Carl Duisberg
called upon Gattineau, his press secretary at the time, to open contact with the Nazis. Gattineau enlisted the aid of Karl Haushofer
, under whom he had studied at university for a time, and after Haushofer vouched for the German credentials of the IG Farben leaders to Hitler the attacks ceased for around a year.
In September 1932 Gattineau, along with Heinrich Bütefisch
, had held a meeting with Hitler at which they discussed the issue of producing synthetic oil, something Hitler felt crucial to end German energy dependence and to ensure his plans for secret rearmament would remain secret were he to be elected. By this time Carl Bosch
was already providing the Nazi Party with funding. Gattineau's role within IG Farben had grown significantly as in 1932 he had been appointed as head of the newly established Department of Economic Policy (Wipo), an arm of the finance section of IG Farben the purpose of which was to monitor legal, foreign policy and taxation issues that might impact on the relationship between the company and the government.
by 1934 and being recognised as one of Ernst Röhm
's main advisers on economic issues.
Gattineau's closeness to Röhm almost proved his undoing and as the Night of the Long Knives
got under way on 30 June 1934 he was dragged from his bed and taken into Gestapo
custody under the trumped up charges that he had diverted money from IG Farben to Röhm in order to fund the supposed plot that was used as justification for the massacre of SA members that ensued. He was interrogated for several hours and feared execution but then was surprisingly released from custody. The reason for his release in uncertain with Max Ilgner
claiming that he had used his own influence to secure Gattineau's freedom. Equally it may have simply been the case that Gattineau, as an SA hobbyist, was not considered important enough for the executioners.
Gattineau immediately resigned from the SA but faced anger at IG Farben where his superior Erwin Selck attempted to secure his dismissal or deployment away from the company's main Unter den Linden
Berlin
offices to the provinces. Bosch rejected this move but, in order to reduce Gattineau's public role, made his Wipo subordinate to Ilgner's operations and before long Gattineau also answered to Ilgner with his press duties. Despite seemingly coming close to being executed Gattineau was admitted to full membership of the Nazi Party in 1935.
He spent much of the Second World War in Bratislava
as a director of Dynamit-Nobel-Fabrik and other Czechoslovakia
n chemical companies that had been brought under the IG Farben umbrella by the Nazis.
as part of what became known as the IG Farben trial
. He was however acquitted of all charges and released. He secured a number of boardroom positions in the corporate world following the trial.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, Strumabteilung (SA} leader, director of IG Farben
IG Farben
I.G. Farbenindustrie AG was a German chemical industry conglomerate. Its name is taken from Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG . The company was formed in 1925 from a number of major companies that had been working together closely since World War I...
and defendant during the Nuremberg trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
.
Early years
Gattineau was born in BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, the son of Julius Gattineau, a German dentist who had established a practice in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. The young Gattineau was initially educated in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
before being sent to high school in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, ultimately studying economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, completing his doctorate in 1929. He took a minor role in local politics, serving with the right-wing Bund Oberland in 1923. He married Dr. Wera Fritzsche, with whom he had five children, in 1929.
Dealing with the Nazi Party
Gattineau was employed by IG Farben from 1928, becoming head of commercial policy and public relations at the firm in 1931. During the growth of the Nazi Party it was not uncommon for Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
to attack IG farben in his speeches due to the presence of some Jewish executives in prominent positions. Fearing the growth of Hitler and the potential ramifications for the business Carl Duisberg
Carl Duisberg
Friedrich Carl Duisberg was a German chemist and industrialist.-Life:He was born in Barmen, Germany and from 1879 until 1882 he studied at the "Georg-August-Universität " and Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and received his doctorate .After military service in Munich, which he combined with...
called upon Gattineau, his press secretary at the time, to open contact with the Nazis. Gattineau enlisted the aid of Karl Haushofer
Karl Haushofer
Karl Ernst Haushofer was a German general, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime.-Biography:Haushofer belonged to...
, under whom he had studied at university for a time, and after Haushofer vouched for the German credentials of the IG Farben leaders to Hitler the attacks ceased for around a year.
In September 1932 Gattineau, along with Heinrich Bütefisch
Heinrich Bütefisch
Heinrich Bütefisch was a German chemist and manager of the IG Farben.As a leading figure in IG Farben, he joined the Freunde des Reichsführer-SS, an exclusive group close to Heinrich Himmler that allowed the prominent individuals in German society to effectively become SS officers without having...
, had held a meeting with Hitler at which they discussed the issue of producing synthetic oil, something Hitler felt crucial to end German energy dependence and to ensure his plans for secret rearmament would remain secret were he to be elected. By this time Carl Bosch
Carl Bosch
Carl Bosch 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 chemical company....
was already providing the Nazi Party with funding. Gattineau's role within IG Farben had grown significantly as in 1932 he had been appointed as head of the newly established Department of Economic Policy (Wipo), an arm of the finance section of IG Farben the purpose of which was to monitor legal, foreign policy and taxation issues that might impact on the relationship between the company and the government.
Under the Nazis
As soon as Hitler came to power Gattineau applied for Nazi Party membership but he was told he would have to wait as the party was unwilling, initially at least, to accept a rush of business executives whom it felt were only seeking membership for reasons of expediency. Nonetheless Gattineau took up a part-time role with the SA in an attempt to prove his Nazi credentials. He rose swiftly through the ranks, already holding the role of StandartenführerStandartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
by 1934 and being recognised as one of Ernst Röhm
Ernst Röhm
Ernst Julius Röhm, was a German officer in the Bavarian Army and later an early Nazi leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung , the Nazi Party militia, and later was its commander...
's main advisers on economic issues.
Gattineau's closeness to Röhm almost proved his undoing and as the Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
got under way on 30 June 1934 he was dragged from his bed and taken into Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
custody under the trumped up charges that he had diverted money from IG Farben to Röhm in order to fund the supposed plot that was used as justification for the massacre of SA members that ensued. He was interrogated for several hours and feared execution but then was surprisingly released from custody. The reason for his release in uncertain with Max Ilgner
Max Ilgner
Max Ilgner was a German industrialist. He was a member of the board of IG Farben and a Wehrwirtschaftsführer or war economy leader under the Nazi regime.-Early life:...
claiming that he had used his own influence to secure Gattineau's freedom. Equally it may have simply been the case that Gattineau, as an SA hobbyist, was not considered important enough for the executioners.
Gattineau immediately resigned from the SA but faced anger at IG Farben where his superior Erwin Selck attempted to secure his dismissal or deployment away from the company's main Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
offices to the provinces. Bosch rejected this move but, in order to reduce Gattineau's public role, made his Wipo subordinate to Ilgner's operations and before long Gattineau also answered to Ilgner with his press duties. Despite seemingly coming close to being executed Gattineau was admitted to full membership of the Nazi Party in 1935.
He spent much of the Second World War in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
as a director of Dynamit-Nobel-Fabrik and other Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n chemical companies that had been brought under the IG Farben umbrella by the Nazis.
Post-war
In 1947 Gattineau was one of 24 executives indicted for war crimes by the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as part of what became known as the IG Farben trial
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 after the end of World War II....
. He was however acquitted of all charges and released. He secured a number of boardroom positions in the corporate world following the trial.