Berthold Schwarz Berthold Schwarz Berthold Schwarz (sometimes spelled Schwartz), also known as Berthold the Black and "der Schwartzer", was a legendary German (or in some accounts Danish or Greek) alchemist of the late 14th century, credited with the invention of gunpowder by 15th- through 19th-century European literature. The purported period of Schwarz' activity (late 14th century) thus falls between the first reports of gunpowder in Europe (late 13th century) and the development of effective applications in artillery (mid 15th century). It is unclear whether Schwarz is a historical person. It has been suggested that he was a historical alchemist who had developed
Heinrich Schwarz semi-autonomous administrative units: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and the Auschwitz III-Monowitz labor camp. Under this new arrangement Schwarz was given command of Auschwitz III-Monowitz in December 1943. Central to the role Schwarz played as commandant was the provision of slave-laborers to the nearby Buna Werke, a synthetic rubber factory owned by the German chemical company IG Farben. Other German corporations, such as Siemens and Krupp, also received slave labor from Monowitz. The brutal working conditions which prevailed at Monowitz during the period Schwarz served as commandant resulted in a large number of deaths among the inmate population, with estimates ranging