Degesch, German company, owned by Degussa AG and IG. Farben, supplied Zyklon B to Nazi SS for Holocaust
Degesch was a chemistry company based in Frankfurt am Main that specialized in manufacturing pest control products. The firm held the patent for Zyklon B, a fumigation agent originally used to control insects and rodents in storage facilities and warehouses.
The company was founded in 1919 in Berlin as a nonprofit venture by several major chemical firms to develop pest control methods. After the war, it became the only authorized supplier of hydrogen cyanide products for pest control in Germany and relocated to Frankfurt in 1920.
The company no longer operates at its original locations and does not exist as an independent business today. The former offices in Frankfurt and later in Friedberg have long been repurposed or are no longer standing.
During World War II, the firm was implicated in forced labor and profited from stolen property of Jewish people. After the war, some leadership faced prosecution while the company persisted under new ownership, continuing to distribute its pest control products under different names to this day.
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