Gerhardt Westrick
| Gerhard Alois Westrick | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1889 |
| Died | 1957 |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Lawyer, businessman |
| Known for | Representing U.S. companies in Germany during World War II |
Gerhard Alois Westrick (1889–1957) was a German lawyer and businessman who represented several major American companies in Germany before World War II. He was known for his efforts during a trip to New York in 1940 to gain support for the Nazi government. Later he turned against the regime.
Gerhard Alois Westrick was born in 1889. During World War I (1914–1918) he was badly wounded, and lost part of one leg. He joined the law firm of Heinrich Friedrich Albert in 1921, and became a specialist in international corporate law. Heinrich F. Albert advised or represented major industrial and financial organizations in Germany and the United States. They were associated with Allen Dulles and his New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. The German law firm's clients included Kodak, Ford, Texas Oil, General Motors and ITT. In 1938 Westrick founded his own law firm in Berlin, taking some of the American clients with him, including ITT. Westrick was appointed chairman of ITT's German subsidiary. He played a leading role in helping ITT acquire companies in Eastern Europe.
In 1936 Westrick was called up to serve in the officer reserve, but was rejected because of his injury. He still wanted to serve Germany, and said he was interested in intelligence work. On the advice of Joachim von Ribbentrop, the French-American businessman Charles Bedaux met Westrick in August 1939 and hired him as his lawyer. Westrick quickly managed to remove the obstacles that had been preventing Bedaux from operating in Germany. Westrick recognized Bedaux's potential as a source for intelligence, and brought him to the attention of Leopold Bürkner, head of the foreign liaison section of the Abwehr. Westrick's correspondence with the intelligence organization emphasized his own importance as chairman of ITT in Germany, for example in influencing what the Hungarian ITT plant would ship to Turkey, a key supplier of chromium to Germany.
World War II broke out in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. France and Britain immediately declared war. France fell in June 1940. However, Russia remained neutral until it was invaded in June 1941. The USA remained technically neutral until four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, when Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
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