"DISMANTLING OF THE LEUNA PLANT, MERSEBURG, GERMANY"

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01028R000100080011-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 16, 2001
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: April 2, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2001/08/02 : CIA-RDP81.1028#2000100080011-0
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INFORMATION REPORT
171:ET
CENTRAL INTE IGENCE AGENCY
COUNTRY GERMANY (Soviet Zone)
SUBJECT Dismantling of the Leu.ha Plant
Mere. sehurg, Germany
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TI TIE IS, SECTIONS 793
0 ( 0 , 7 9 4 , 0 , THE U.S. CODE, A9 AMENDE O. ITS TR AN IN ISSION OR REYE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITEO.
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
25X1A SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
25X1X
1. The dismantling of the Leona Plant in Merseburg, Thuringia,
stated and shipped ~._~ ~_.,aara
to the USSR. The dismantling operations were
directed by Soviet of"f"icers. Captain Vostikov was the Soviet
officer in charge. Villesov, who at that time was the General,
Manager of Leuna, did not seem to have any jurisdiction over
Vostikov s s operabions. Apparently the orders for the dismantling
operation came directly from Moscow. It appeared that Villesov
was not on friendly terms with Vostikov. `This was understandable
because Villesov had been ordered to make Leuna operational as soon
as possible and Vostikov was thwarting his efforts by iemoving
equipment which was needed for the achievement of Vill.esov 4 s goal
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2 Some of the following statements regarding dismantled Leuna
equipment and its disposition in the. USSR are based rin -
rather than actual knowledgeo
laboratory., which had been stripped of all pilot plants and
bench scale installations. The dismantled equipment was distri-
buted as follows:
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M1951 51-4F eBi (20)
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(a) The pilot plant for the production of oxol was dismantled
and probably taken to Dzerzhinaka USSR (560 l5$ N -.Z.30 280 B)
(b) The pilot plant for the production of sol was probably
taken to Dzerzhinsk.
.(a) The pilot plant for hydrocarbon synthesis was probably taken
to Dzerzhin sk,
.(d) The pilot plant for oil cracking with a catalyst volume of
one cubic meter was taken to -Dzerzhinek.
(e)
(f)
(g)
The pilot plant for the production of caprolactam was shipped
to DzerzhinskD. where Dr Striegler was commissioned to put it
into operation?
The bench scale installation of a reactor for the production
of diethyl-amine and its separation from n onoethyl-amine and
triethyl-amine, was shipped ta the Karpov Institute in
Moscow. Dr Friedrich Andreas was working with it in the
Institute. The, reactor had a catalyst volume of 200-300
cubic centimeters.
A bench s,iale model of an installation for the production of
hydrogen peroxide from propane oxidation was shipped to the
Karpov Institute. Dr HeThuuth Jochink was to operate it
there but to my knowledge he nev-e.r had the opport nity'.
The following large installations were dismantled:
The a-e .i.pc_ aqi.. ,--plants Including the section which produced
housed inn building 479 and h. '"ao 4c' paoity of about 30 tons of
hex: etjyie ne di .i ae per month. I a e that 'this plant was
shipped_ to Dzerzhinsk.
(b) The entire ammonia oxidation--plant was dismantled and shipped
to Severo.-Donetsk (L80 539 N 380 40t E).
Abo -75%-of the Catalyst Plant South was dismantled * I am
sure that part of this plant was shipped to Severo Donetek
and. believe that some of it may have been sent to Chirchik
(410 300 N - 69? 379 E)9 where--a-plant for the production
of heavy wate- catalysts Is planned. The method of
production proposed for this plant is patterned after that
at Leuna except that the Lea flow of production is vertical
while the Chirohik flow is to be horizontal.
(d) . The plant producing highly concentrated nitric acid was
completely ismantled,, until only the masonry remained. The
plant was pr?o'babi_ shaipped to Severo Donetek, From remarks
made by the General Manager of the Severn onetsk plant,
Genadij Ivanovitch Villesov,# we learned that the production
of highly concentrated nitric acid was planned there
The met c ._-plant was almost ca plet : dismantled. I do
not know where it was shipped, but it is probable that
the methanol and isobutanol production was intended to take
place at Severo-Do aetak.
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(f) Thirty-four _percent_ of the ammonia plant was dismantled
and shipped to Severo-Donets1.
(g) An unidentified number of steam boilers which produced 50
tons of steam per hour were shipped to the USSR.
(h) Sixty-five percent of the hydrogenation plant was dismantled.
(i) 'The dehydrogenation plant (olefin plant) was completely dis-
mantled.,
operating at atmospheric
(1) The__.haeavy water installation
pressure was dismantled and possibly placed in a building
ne thze Aicult?al Exhibition Grounds in, Moscow.
(k) The, haeav ter installatf,oxn operating at 700 atmospheres
_Na wa:s eat tAothe Ka'Pov Institute where it was being
in Called when we left in July 1948.
(1) The ammonium sulfate_ . p Lant was partly dismantled and shipped
to Severs _ can t ska Drawings and plans of the _ Leu a_ Plant
were 'oed in the files of the library there.
We identified the following equipment of other plant z-,
(a) we saw lead_ o twiner Rut, eshnove9 wh were use as
sti ring vessels for sulphurle ac d0 They had been dismantled
from h e by -_al plant at Wolf en,,
(b) I was told that the Soviets have Installed a plant for the
^~ ~. the losf e
produotf,on of hnexogen in -In6tal:.lea,tion No 20
pls,nt t ' Y? shnaya Grupa (in the vlel ity of Severo-Donetsk),
ea,n prt loners of war who worked at Yushnaya Grupa saw
fhT n s t ll.at on~ is said to-have been__ djjz t ,~s1 ;?rom
Christi'an' st d 0 bring World War II9 the plant had been badly
destroyed9 . but we saw fumes coming from the one smokestack
which was still intact. The plant Is electrically powered
by a line leading from Proietarsk (480 56 N ? 38Z 24# H)
to the plant.
In addition to these Installations of industrial or scientific
significance9 the Soviets removed almost all glasses and measuring
instrumentA from all laboratories. Most of the glasses we used
in the Karpov Institute laboratories were those which had been
dismantled from Leunao At the Karpov Institute we found a hand-
operated tablet machine which pressed the catalyst powder into
firm tablets and which had formerly been used at Leuna,
The Leuna library was almost completely removed. We saw a large
number of Leuna books at Severo-Donetsk; most of the Leuna
reports and pamphlets were directed to the Karpov Institute,
While the librarian at Severe-Donetsk, Mrs Villesov9 was doing a
capable job of cataloguing the books., the printed material at the
Karpov Institute was dumped into sacks onto the floor and stuffed
in the top of shelves of the library. (At the canteen we were
given food which was wrapped in old and historically valuable
reports of Le? a, e s origin.) In addition to Leuna material 9 we
found a large assortment of literature at Severn-Donetsk from
factories at Heydebreck (50? 20$,'N - 180 12e E) and Piesteritz in
Saxony. Both are chemical Fact.pries `and the presence of their
literature at Segero,Dorsetsk..per i ted some speculation as to the
planned production of this l ,nt,. The Heydebreck factory was
not quite finished at the end of World War II9 but the production
of urea, brown-o ide? catalyst and end products by the Fischer-
Tropsch process waFi planned.. Lacquers., oil and axonia were
produced at Piesterit?.
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The dismantling operations were carried out with reasonably
good care. The crates which were used were made of planks two
inches thick and reinforced on the outside. on the inside
they were lined with tar paper. All rust was removed from the
equipment, which was then coated with protective paint and
crated, in many casesp the German workers saw to It that the
Soviets did not get the best equipment, They persu=aded the
Soviet officers to take along worthless equipment, hid
valuable machines under rubble laying about in the plantD and
disguised defects on some of the. material and thereby deceived
R _p
the Soviets as to its condition, Most ...__ q i
p ent_ rc bably
arrived in the j$$R in fairly good condition hut. in the
unlo,a ng processes and the lack of proper care in installation
and usage, much of the equipment was spoiled. As late...as _ 48
so;ae o kne 3~e .,e'_qu-i. anzae_t had not been ins ta,:Lied In the Karpov
Institute and was standing in the open, unprotected.- A1
vt
area atSeverooDonetek was surrounded by barbed wires in which
dismantled Leuna equipment, was exposed to the Soviet climate,
While the dismantling was still going on,9 German engineers
began to rebuild the Leuna Plant, Equipment was found in various
places, partly under the debris and partly in storage., where a
large amount of email equipment had been kept In reserve. In
this mariner the plant was gradually put back on an operational
basis, The laboratories had the greatest difficulty in resuming
their operations. Even the desks of he deported scientists had
..been removed. In fact, the laboratories never entirely recovered
from the dismantling operations. For example, the Research
Laboratory, which previously was staffed by more than 30
academically trained scientists.. now has but six or eight. Further-
more., the Research Laboratory scientists lack the zest to promote
their work because most of the projects on which they work are
for the benefit Of the Soviet
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Approved For Release 2001/08/02 : CIA-RDP81-01028R000100080011-0