Industry and Ideology : IG Farben in the Nazi Era

Rating:
Summary: Shocking Lack of Morality of Holocaust Complicity
Review: Author Peter Hayes displays a shocking, no astonishing, lack of moral indignation, in what struck me as a superficial review of IG Farben's complicity in Hitler's plans. He tends to gloss over the involvement of Farben's board in locating their facilities in concentration camps--asserting the men were only acting as good businessmen. Of course they were businessmen--businessmen who prospered at the expense of Jewish misery and deaths. I wish I could rate this book less than one star. I am more than disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Dr. Hayes maintains that the directors of Farben were inconsequential to the Nazi plan of extermination--even though the company maintained an extensive operation of murderous slave labor at Auschwitz, and otherwise colluded with the Hitler regime. Since it has been made clear that the post-war Farben financially sponsored Hayes' research, I cannot see how this book and its conclusions can be taken seriously. I think the sponsorship seeps into the fabirc of the book itself. The conclusion about Farben directors which Hayes offers, referred to above, is just one example of this book's lack of credibility. Independent research would demand that any investigation of Farben's history be conducted free from financial contributions by the company itself. Hayes' book--and its slant--should be read with that in mind.

Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: I expected more and was disappointed. Hayes could have made a real contribution by better documenting the crimes of corporate collusion. Hence, I'll stick with Crime and Punishment of IG Farben, which this book can't hold a candle to.

Rating:
Summary: Shameful Volume by Peter Hayes
Review: I first heard about this book from a friend whose opinion of this volume was not good. After reading it carefully, I must concur. I seems shameful that Peter Hayes should go out of his way to reinvent Farben directors and managers as just a pack of decent men caught up in the Nazi whirlwind while trying to help their company survive. Hayes' many conclusions are not supported by the documentation. Hayes should be ashamed of himself for authoring this book. I suggest right thinking people will agree.

Rating:
Summary: Should Hayes Have Gone Further
Review: I have now read the broad criticism of the Peter Hayes book, and wondered if it is fair. Should one stars be assigned to this book. Certainly, the book has earned my respect for its thorough and well documented research. Certainly Hayes has gone to great lengths to understand the ins and outs of IG Farben and its directors and the crises they faced. He has a command of the language a cut above. But the pressing question is what did Hayes do with his information, and why are key passages unfootnoted. Did he use his talents to indict or to excuse. After much debate, I must agree with those who see the book as using the immense documentation not to expose a Nazi corporate partner, but to somehow place that partner in the best possible light. Farben was a commercial monster that willingly partnered with the Nazis in camps, supplied the Nazi death and war machine, and of course profitted from its alliances. This book keeps trying blur those facts by stressing the dignity, humanity and professionalism and commercial dedication of the executives who ran the company. They were not ignorant men. We are not ignorant readers. The company knew what was happening. The world now knows what did indeed happen. And Industry and Ideology should have done more to help history judge these perpetrators--not excuse them. I therefore rate the book several stars on documentation but in the end place a 1 star as its rank for its unacceptable contribution to historical investigation.

Rating:
Summary: This is how history should be written
Review: In a sub-field quickly becoming crowded with methodological amateurs, many of whom are seeking to burden readers with their own personal baggage, Hayes's work stands out for its objectivity, its depth and its grasp of nuance. (Alas, this latter appears to be a dying art.) It is not by chance that this book was awarded the Biennial Book Prize of the Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association. It is a thoroughly researched, masterfully written and powerfully argued work of scholarship.

Many readers (and Amazon reviewers, I'm afraid) come to the literature seeking texts that confirm their preconceptions of all Nazi-era Germans as unreformably evil. Surely these readers are disppointed by Hayes's conclusions that this was not always the case, even among German industrialists during WWII. Some small-minded people, it seems, will never let the facts get in the way of their arguments.

Unfortunately, the reviewers here have taken things a step further, going so far as to accuse Hayes of writing this book while on the I.G. Farben payroll. I contacted Hayes about this (remember: checking facts is important), and the claim is pure fiction. This book started life as Hayes's doctoral dissertation at Yale, and he never received any money from I.G. Farben (which doesn't even exist any more, nor did it at the time of writing) or any other company to support the research and writing of the book.

Bottom line: this is great book for those with the intellectual curiosity and emotional stability to handle and appreciate a nuanced historical argument about the important and complex set of historical issues surrounding the role of industry under the Nazis. Strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Important and Ignored
Review: Rarely examined and more rarely understood is how respective business leaders became effective accomplices in the Nazi regime. Peter Hayes' book, Industry and Ideology, provides a cogent explanation based on both extensive citations to research and on reasoned analysis and common sense. It should be required reading not only in University history departments, but also in business schools.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: The words of Peter Hayes contributed a new spin on the industrial contributions to the Germanic society. Corporations and volkism were thoroughly investigated. He offers new information on an old, but undying topic. It was awesome!

Rating:
Summary: Cover Up for Farben
Review: This year I read four excellent books on German industry during the Nazi era. I also read one very disturbing one, Industry and Ideology by Peter Hayes of Northwestern University. The book read like a cover-up or an apologia. Hayes is always trying to excuse the "middle ground" sought by Farben. That hit me like a cover up.

Rating:
Summary: Farben History Financed by Farben
Review: We discussed Prof. Hayes' book in class. Some people felt it was an in-depth history offering great details and insights, but most were disinclined to accept the work as independent history because I.G. Farben financed the research. Surely Prof. Hayes, with all his resources, could have undertaken this project independently. Holocaust historians must not accept tainted blood to write corporate histories, lest their work also be seen as tainted. I think an independent history of Farben needs to be written. Several fine books have been published already and one more would be welcome.