Degesch

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH (transl. German Corporation for Pest Control), oft shortened to Degesch, was a German chemical corporation which manufactured pesticides. Degesch held the patent on the infamous pesticide Zyklon, a variant of which was used to execute people in the gas chambers of German extermination camps during the Holocaust. Through the firms Tesch & Stabenow GmbH (Testa) and Heerdt-Linger (Heli), Degesch sold the poisonous gas Zyklon B to the German Army and the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Degesch was founded in 1919 as a subsidiary of Degussa.^[1] Its first director was Nobel laureate Fritz Haber. In 1936, Degussa and IG Farben each held 42.5% of the shares, while Th. Goldschmidt AG held the remaining 15%. During the years 1938 through 1943, Degesch was extremely profitable. For most of these years, IG Farben received dividends amounting to twice the value of their shares.^[2] After the Second World War Degesch continued production. In 1986, the company was sold to Detia Freyberg GmbH; the current name is Detia-Degesch GmbH.

^ "Wie die Kultur einbrach : Giftgas und Wissenschaftsethos im Ersten Weltkrieg" (PDF).
^ Hilberg, Raul (2003). The Destruction of the European Jews (3rd ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 952. ISBN 9780300095579.

[1] "Wie die Kultur einbrach : Giftgas und Wissenschaftsethos im Ersten Weltkrieg" (PDF).

[2] Hilberg, Raul (2003). The Destruction of the European Jews (3rd ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 952. ISBN 9780300095579.

[1]

[2]