Buna Werke Schkopau

Buna Werke Schkopau were a chemical company specialising in the production of polymer materials such as plastics and artificial rubber. The name BUNA is derived from the technology of polymerising butadiene with sodium (chemical symbol: Na) as a catalyst.

In order to make Germany independent from the importation of natural rubber, the first industrial plant for the production of artificial rubber was built in Schkopau near Halle (Saale) and named Buna-Werke GmbH Schkopau. It was a subsidiary of Ammoniakwerk Merseburg GmbH, later known as Leunawerke, which belonged to IG Farben. The foundation stone was laid in April 1936.

Production of artificial rubber started in 1937. Other products were PVC and basic chemicals such as trichlorethylene, formaldehyde, tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, and acetone. Another factory, Hüls-Werke in Marl started production of Buna rubber in 1939.

During World War II, a branch of Buna-Werke was built near Auschwitz, which employed forced labourers and inmates of Monowitz concentration camp. The latter camp was built on the factory grounds. It never produced rubber during its wartime life, and both plants were bombed by the americans to inhibit the supply of fuel to the Wehrmacht. Both plants also used large numbers of slave labourers for which several members of the IG Farben company were prosecuted at Nuremberg after the war.

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