As the one outwardly responsible for this factory, it is my duty in this grave hour to render an account of what has happened. When, still in days of peace, we entered on the great task of pioneering new paths in order to supply Germany with the nitrogen compounds urgently required for her food supply, we could make the venture knowing that we could rely on a scientific and technical organisation of the very first order. Under its earlier management the company had grown into the biggest of its kind in the whole world and had, in the course of its great and successful achievements, trained a staff of workers with which we could approach the big problems with confidence.