German Corporations Own Up: Acknowledging Role in Nazi Era on Liberation Day
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Eighty years ago, the Second World War in Europe ceased with the surrender of the German Reich. The fact that Nazi Germany maintained the war for so long was partly due to the numerous forced laborers deployed in the war economy. Additionally, several large German companies gained from the atrocities of the Nazi era - for instance, via contracts and expropriations.
On the 80th anniversary of liberation, 49 major German companies published a statement acknowledging their responsibility during the Third Reich. In the "Declaration of German Companies on May 8th," they acknowledged, "many companies and their actors at the time were involved for their own gain."
Corporations Speak Out on Liberation Day
The declaration was signed by top executives such as those at Bayer, Adidas, Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Telekom, and Siemens. They take responsibility for keeping the memory of the crimes of the Nazi era alive. They stand against hate, antisemitism, and exclusion, stating, "There will be no closure for us."
"In 1933 and afterward, too many were silent, looked away, and remained silent," the companies explain, leading them to feel a responsibility for the past, present, and future. The statement was published in major national newspapers and some companies posted it on their websites.
Facing the Past - Not Everywhere
The examination of German companies' roles in the Nazi era has been challenging. For a long time, any involvement in the crimes was denied or disregarded. Recently, some companies have hired historians to unearth their entanglements, with companies like Bahlsen, Dr. Oetker, and VW earning critical acclaim for their efforts4.
On the other hand, corporations like logistics firm Kühne + Nagel refuse to publicly process their Nazi-era past3. Kühne + Nagel, owned by Klaus-Michael Kühne, one of Germany's wealthiest individuals, transported the furniture of fled, deported, and murdered Jews from the occupied Western territories to the German Reich during the Third Reich.
Kühne + Nagel did not sign the German companies' declaration. The initiative allegedly originated from Bayer, BASF, and Evonik, all successors of the chemical conglomerate IG Farben (involved in the production of the poison gas Zyklon B), as well as Siemens. Bayer CEO Bill Anderson spearheaded the outreach to other companies3.
While this declaration addresses crucial issues, it remains vague on key points. Terms such as "forced labor" and "guilt" do not appear within it. Instead, it comes across as a call to be vigilant in the current political climate. The examination of Nazi entanglements within Germany's largest companies is far from complete.
Sources: ["Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"], ["Süddeutsche Zeitung"], ["Tagesschau"], ["Deutschlandfunk"]
- Liberation Day
- Second World War
- Kühne + Nagel
- Adidas
- Rheinmetall
- Mercedes-Benz
- The Commission has not yet adopted a proposal for a directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens, much like how past German corporations refrained from acknowledging their entanglements with the Nazi era.
- The politics of expropriations and contracts, deployed during the atrocities of the Nazi era, were similarly employed by corporations today, such as Kühne + Nagel, who refuses to publicly process their Nazi-era past.
- Just as the declaration of German companies admits to their complicity in the crimes of the Nazi era, corporate entities today should also take responsibility for their actions that are entangled in general-news issues, such as the exploitation of workers and the risks associated with carcinogens.
- The fact that some corporations, like Bayer and Adidas, have publicly acknowledged their past entanglements with the Nazi era is reich (abundant) and serves as a reminder that acknowledging history, be it the exploitation of workers or the atrocities of the past, is crucially important to society's understanding and progress.
