hand, certain directives given by Dr. Terberger in his field of activity for the benefit of the foreign workers and prisoners of war will be indications which ought not to be underestimated, pointing against a conscious tolerance of their inhuman treatment. Thus I hope that the Tribunal, at the end of the case-in-chief, will share my conviction that the intentions of Dr. Terberger were good, that he-like many thousands in Germany-made successful efforts to the best of his ability to act in accordance with the principles of humanity without having to sacrifice his own life uselessly during the time of war which was perilous in every respect. IV. DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE FLICK CONCERN THE POSITION OF THE DEFENDANTS A. Introduction Both before and during the Third Reich there were substantial and frequent changes in Flick's control of industrial participations and the manner in which the Flick Concern maintained itself as a working and legal entity in relation to numerous operating companies. This complication is enhanced because contemporaneous documents of the same period often refer to the Concern or branches thereof by different names and by various abbreviations. The material included in this section deals briefly with the organization and development of the Flick Concern, the distribution of functions as among the defendants and others within the Concern, and the various positions held by the defendants both within and without the Concern. How the prosecution and defense related the functions and positions of the defendants to the issues in the case is indicated in a general way in the opening statements (sec. III). Two charts on the organization of the Flick Concern were discussed in the opening statement for the prosecution (sec. III A) and have been reproduced along with the text of this opening statement. These two charts were frequently displayed in the courtroom during the trial as visual aids in connection with argument and the proffer of evidence. Basically the evidence and stipulation comprising this section have been arranged to afford a general introduction both to the Flick Concern and to the various positions and functions of the individual defendants. However, the arrangement of the material is also calculated to give a source for subsequent reference when a fuller understanding of evidence reproduced in later sections of the volume may make it essential to refer back to materials on the general status of a particular defendant at a particular time. Accordingly, a number of contemporaneous documents mainly treating the development of the Flick Concern (sec. B below), are followed by six separate sections (C through H below), each of which deals more specifically with the broad outlines of the personal history of one defendant. Each of these last six sections, of course, often goes beyond the role of the particular defendant in question and likewise treats of the history of the Concern and of the functions of various other persons. A number of German terms are not readily translated into precise English equivalents, a fact with which the participants in the trials were faced from day to day. This is particularly true in the field of German business enterprises and German corporate organization, and confusion may be avoided here by a special note concerning three types of German business enterprises frequently involved in the Flick case: the German "Aktiengesellschaft" (abbreviated as "A.G."), roughly translated as a stock corporation; the "Gesellschaft mit beschraenkter Haftung" (abbreviated as "G.m.b.H."), literally translated as a company with limited liability; and the "Kommanditgesellschaft" (abbreviated as "K.G."), corresponding essentially with the American limited partnership. The "A.G." and the "G.m.b.H." are juristic persons in German law, whereas the "K.G." is not. The conduct of the defendants often was related to their position as members of the governing boards of a German stock corporation (A.G.). An “A.G." has two governing boards, one charged with general supervision and the other with actual management. These two boards are the "Aufsichtsrat", often translated as the "supervisory board of directors" or merely as "supervisory board", and the "Vorstand", often translated as "managing board of directors" or merely, as "managing board.” The "Aufsichtsrat" (supervisory board) is a supervisory board of directors elected by the stockholders at the annual meeting generally called the "Generalversammlung" (before 1937) and the "Hauptversammlung" (after 1937). With some notable exceptions, the members of the Aufsichtsrat appear to correspond functionally with those members of the board of directors of a major American corporation who are not members of the executive committee and who do not participate in the actual or day to day management of the business. The formal rights and duties of the Aufsichtsrat under German law include the election, supervision, and removal of the members of the Vorstand; the general supervision of the management of the enterprise by the Vorstand; the right to examine and audit books and accounts; the calling of shareholders' meetings; and the representation of the corporation in dealing with the Vorstand. Of course, the extent to which the Aufsichtsrat in practice exercises these powers to influence the activities of an A.G. depends upon a number of factors, including for example, who owns or controls the stock. The Vorstand (managing board) is the executive board of directors which undertakes the actual management of the corporation generally and ordinarily represents the corporation in its dealings with others. The members of the Vorstand can best be compared functionally with the principal officers of a major American corporation who serve on the executive committee and participate in the actual management of the corporation. During the trial, German terms like "Aufsichtsrat" and "Vorstand" were often not translated at all, though sometimes these terms were followed by editorial brackets or parentheses containing the approximate English translations. Since many readers of this volume will not read it consecutively from page to page, the editors have made frequent use of editorial brackets, sometimes to indicate the approximate English translation of a German term and sometimes to indicate the exact German term which has been translated. A brief summary of the history of the Flick organization and a short description of the positions and general functions of the defendants are contained in the early part of the judgment of the Tribunal (sec. XI, below). B. Contemporaneous Documents on Flick and the Flick Concern TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NI-3020 PAMPHLET PUBLISHED BY THE FLICK CONCERN, 1943, CONCERNING DEFENDANT FLICK AND THE HISTORY OF THE FLICK CONCERN Friedrich Flick 1 Friedrich Flick was born on 10 July 1883 in Ernsdorf-Kreuztal, in the Siegerland; he comes from a long-established Siegerlaender family. His father was a farmer who, however, had close ties with the Siegerland ore mining industry, in which at that time the guild tradition still prevailed. Through him the growing boy, who already attracted attention during his school years, by his serious, forward-looking manner, became at an early age familiar with the world of the local iron industry, so that it automatically became the goal of his vocational aspirations. After attending the Siegerland Realgymnasium [high school], he commenced his commercial training in 1902 at the "Bremerhuette" [foundry] in Weidenau. In 1902-05 followed his military service in Kassel. Thereupon, Flick attended a 2-year course at the Business College [Handelshochschule] in Cologne, in order to perfect his vocational armor in a special, and at that time hardly customary, manner. After passing the final examination [Diplom-Examen] with distinction, Flick returned to the "Bremerhuette" in 1907. Here he became a Prokurist 2 at the age of 24, an extraordinary occurrence at that time in an enterprise of such size. Five years later, on 1 May 1913, Flick entered the Vorstand [managing board] of the Iron Industry, at the Menden and Schwerte A.G., and thus attained his first independent sphere of work. In the same year he married Miss Marie Schuss, daughter of City Councillor Robert Schuss, a member of an old Siegen family of merchants. Three sons were born to the couple in the course of the years. The family was formed, which in the coming years of struggle 1 This pamphlet was published by the Flick Concern in connection with the celebration of Flick's 60th birthday. • Company or corporation official with power of attorney. |