Tesch & Stabenow
Encyclopedia
The corporation Tesch & Stabenow (in short Testa) was a market leader in pest control
chemicals between 1924 and 1945 in Germany
east of the Elbe
.
Testa distributed Zyklon B
, a pesticide
. Zyklon B is lethal to animals as well as to humans. Its effect is based upon cyanide
. Therefore Zyklon was only allowed to be sold mixed with an odorant to warn people of its poisonous nature. The company sold Zyklon B to the German army
and the SS
in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Testa sold it without the additive. Two directors of Testa were convicted and executed, as they were found guilty of assisting in the mass murder of Jews during the Second World War. The company continued after the war and merged with Heerdt-Lingler GmbH (HeLi) in 1979.
.
In 1925 the firm became the only distributor of Zyklon B on behalf of Degesch
east of the Elbe
. In 1927 Stabenow left the firm; Dr. Bruno Tesch
became 45% owner, Degesch had 55% of the shares; in June 1942 Tesch became the sole owner.
Testa distributed a growing amount of the gas to the German army. In 1941 Tesch instructed the SS
in Sachsenhausen in the use of the pest control. Starting in 1941 Testa sold Zyklon B to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek
, Sachsenhausen
, Ravensbrück, Stutthof
, Neuengamme, Groß-Rosen and Dachau. The highest turnover of cyanide was in 1943.
, director Karl Weinbacher and employee Joachim Drosihn. They were brought before and charged by a military tribunal . They were accused of distributing to concentration camps with the intent to kill humans. An employee even stated that Bruno Tesch himself suggested the idea to the SS.
Tesch and Weinbacher were convicted in the Curiohaus process, and executed on May 16, 1946. Drosihn was acquitted.
Pest control
Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...
chemicals between 1924 and 1945 in Germany
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...
east of the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
.
Testa distributed Zyklon B
Zyklon B
Zyklon B was the trade name of a cyanide-based pesticide infamous for its use by Nazi Germany to kill human beings in gas chambers of extermination camps during the Holocaust. The "B" designation indicates one of two types of Zyklon...
, a pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
. Zyklon B is lethal to animals as well as to humans. Its effect is based upon cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
. Therefore Zyklon was only allowed to be sold mixed with an odorant to warn people of its poisonous nature. The company sold Zyklon B to the German army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
and the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Testa sold it without the additive. Two directors of Testa were convicted and executed, as they were found guilty of assisting in the mass murder of Jews during the Second World War. The company continued after the war and merged with Heerdt-Lingler GmbH (HeLi) in 1979.
Company history
Tesch & Stabenow was founded in 1924 in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
In 1925 the firm became the only distributor of Zyklon B on behalf of Degesch
Degesch
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH , in short Degesch, was a German chemical corporation during World War II. Degesch produced pesticides used against weeds and insects...
east of the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
. In 1927 Stabenow left the firm; Dr. Bruno Tesch
Bruno Tesch (Chemist)
Bruno Emil Tesch was a German chemist and entrepreneur. He was the co-inventor of the insecticide Zyklon B with Gerhard Peters and Walter Heerdt...
became 45% owner, Degesch had 55% of the shares; in June 1942 Tesch became the sole owner.
Testa distributed a growing amount of the gas to the German army. In 1941 Tesch instructed the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
in Sachsenhausen in the use of the pest control. Starting in 1941 Testa sold Zyklon B to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
, Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, Ravensbrück, Stutthof
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
, Neuengamme, Groß-Rosen and Dachau. The highest turnover of cyanide was in 1943.
Prosecution
On 3 September 1945 the British arrested Bruno TeschBruno Tesch (Chemist)
Bruno Emil Tesch was a German chemist and entrepreneur. He was the co-inventor of the insecticide Zyklon B with Gerhard Peters and Walter Heerdt...
, director Karl Weinbacher and employee Joachim Drosihn. They were brought before and charged by a military tribunal . They were accused of distributing to concentration camps with the intent to kill humans. An employee even stated that Bruno Tesch himself suggested the idea to the SS.
Tesch and Weinbacher were convicted in the Curiohaus process, and executed on May 16, 1946. Drosihn was acquitted.