Lesson plan

Interhandel

Interhandel, short for Internationale Industrie & Handelsbeteilungungen, was a Swiss conglomerate, known for its long-running disputes with the U.S. government over German ownership during World War II. Interhandel, which had both financial as well as industrial holdings was the corporate successor of I.G. Chemie, which the U.S. government had claimed was a front organization for Germany's I.G. Farben during World War II. Interhandel was publicly traded in Switzerland from its formation as IG Chemie with a complex structure of ordinary and preference shares, which concentrated voting rights with an array of Swiss investment banks. Approximately 80% of its capital was tied up in the long-running GAF investment, with the remainder consisting of various small chemical companies, Bank Hoffman of Switzerland, a small bank in Panama and various property investments - most of which had been acquired after the end of World War II, under the control of Managing Director Walter Germann, a relative of M. Greutert, a banker and the I.G Farben representative on the I.G. Chemie board of directors. In 1958, prior to the successful resolution of the GAF/Interhandel case in the United States, a number of shareholders who had previous links to I.G. Farben (including Industrie Bank and M. Sturzenegger) were bought out, and UBS Bank’s chairman Dr. Alfred Schafer became chairman of Interhandel.…

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Article summary

Interhandel, short for Internationale Industrie & Handelsbeteilungungen, was a Swiss conglomerate, known for its long-running disputes with the U.S. government over German ownership during World War II. Interhandel, which had both financial as well as industrial holdings was the corporate successor of I.G. Chemie, which the U.S. government had claimed was a front organization for Germany's I.G. Farben during World War II. Interhandel was publicly traded in Switzerland from its formation as IG Chemie with a complex structure of ordinary and preference shares, which concentrated voting rights with an array of Swiss investment banks. Approximately 80% of its capital was tied up in the long-running GAF investment, with the remainder consisting of various small chemical companies, Bank Hoffman of Switzerland, a small bank in Panama and various property investments - most of which had been acquired after the end of World War II, under the control of Managing Director Walter Germann, a relative of M. Greutert, a banker and the I.G Farben representative on the I.G. Chemie board of directors. In 1958, prior to the successful resolution of the GAF/Interhandel case in the United States, a number of shareholders who had previous links to I.G. Farben (including Industrie Bank and M. Sturzenegger) were bought out, and UBS Bank’s chairman Dr. Alfred Schafer became chairman of Interhandel.…

Key claims

  1. date of establishment: 1928 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1928". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1257006339

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.