Heinrich Gattineau

Heinrich Gattineau (6 January 1905 – 27 April 1985) was a German economist, Sturmabteilung (SA) leader, director of IG Farben and defendant during the Nuremberg trials.

Early years Gattineau was born in Bucharest, 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-Maximilians-Universität München, completing his doctorate in 1929.

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.

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 rank of SA-Standartenführer 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. 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.

Post-war In 1947, Gattineau was one of 24 executives indicted for war crimes by the United States 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.