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ER Editor: Who is really behind this unusual mea culpa initiative? Die Zeit mentions this as a sort of causal mechanism, which doesn’t sound entirely convincing to us, putting it down to the conscientious impulse of just one man:
On the 27th of January, executives from Bayer, BASF, Evonik and Siemens took part in the commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Thereupon Bill Anderson – the CEO of Bayer – wrote to leading companies together with the bosses of the other three groups to support the German economy behind a joint declaration on the 80th Anniversary of the end of the war on 8 May 2025 to gather. In the end, 49 companies participated. ZEIT publishes the declaration together with the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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German companies acknowledge responsibility for Nazi rise to power
Around 50 of the nation’s biggest corporations have signed an open letter on the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism
RT
Dozens of Germany’s most prominent enterprises have acknowledged their responsibility for allowing Nazi tyrant Adolf Hitler to rise to power. In a letter published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the corporations, including Siemens, Uniper, and Volkswagen, have admitted that their forebearers’ greed and silence contributed to Nazi crimes.
“The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 would have been unthinkable without the failure of the decision-makers of the time in politics, the military, the judiciary, and the economy,” the collective statement marking the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe said.
Many German companies “contributed to consolidating the Nazi rule” and were “complicit” in the Third Reich’s crimes as they were solely driven by the desire to make profit, the document added.
The list of signatories included a total of 49 brands, including Adidas, Bayer, and BMW, as well as several major German banks, Deutsche Bahn, and Lufthansa. The companies stopped short of taking direct responsibility for the crimes of their predecessors and said instead that they “assume responsibility for making the memory of the crimes of the Nazi era visible.”
“In 1933 and beyond, too many remained silent, looked away,” the companies said, adding that this past silence “imposes responsibility… for the past, the present and the future” upon them. The companies vowed to “stand against hatred, against exclusion, and against anti-Semitism” and called for the “achievements” made by the EU after the end of the Cold War to be protected.
The murky Nazi-era history of the biggest German corporations and families that largely control them has repeatedly appeared in the media. In 2022, former Bloomberg journalist David de Jong released a book titled ‘Nazi Billionaires’, which detailed the ties of companies such as Porsche, Volkswagen, and BMW to the Third Reich.
According to the book, Germany’s biggest automakers are still controlled by families that profited from Nazi rule. Some of their holdings include American brands ranging from Panera Bread to Krispy Kreme, in addition to luxury hotels across Europe.
“Businesses and many families in Germany were never really de-Nazified,” de Jong said at the time, adding that companies are only transparent when they are no longer controlled by the families of former Nazi collaborators.
Source
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ER: This is machine-translated.
“Consider your own advantage”
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG
On the 80th On the anniversary of the end of the war, the CEOs of 49 companies assume responsibility. German corporations would have helped „to consolidate the rule of the National Socialists. “ Your statement in the wording.
Declaration by German companies on the 8th May
Today 80 years ago, on the 8th May 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe. This day is a day to commemorate all the people who have been persecuted and murdered, the crimes and destruction that have killed more than 60 million people worldwide.
Today is also a day when we have to ask ourselves how this could have happened. The National Socialists’ takeover in 1933 would not have been conceivable without the failure of the decision-makers at the time in politics, the military, the judiciary and the economy. German companies helped to consolidate the rule of the National Socialists. Considering their own advantage, many companies and their actors at the time were involved.
Today, as German companies, we take responsibility for making the memory of the crimes of the Nazi era visible. Because these crimes warn us to recognize the fragility of democracy again and again. Together we stand against hatred, against exclusion and against Anti-Semitism. There cannot and will not be a final line with us.
The victory of the Allies over the National Socialists has given hope to an entire continent, the whole world. The European cohesion, rule of law and freedom achieved with the end of the Cold War are achievements that we must protect together. Democracy lives from participation – and from contradiction. It needs attitude and courage. In 1933 and after that, too many were silent, looked away and remained silent. This gives rise to our responsibility – for the past, for the present and for the future.
Bjørn Gulden, CEO, Adidas AG
Martin Babilas, CEO, ALTANA AG
Markus Kamieth, CEO, BASF SE
Bill Anderson, CEO, Bayer AG
Vincent Warnery, CEO, Beiersdorf AG
Oliver Zipse, CEO, BMW Group
Christian Kohlpaintner, CEO, Brenntag SE
Bettina Orlopp, CEO, Commerzbank AG
Nikolai Setzer, CEO, Continental AG
Karin Rådström, CEO, Daimler Truck AG
Richard Lutz, CEO, Deutsche Bahn AG
Christian Sewing, CEO, Deutsche Bank AG
Stephan Leithner, CEO, Deutsche Börse AG
Tim Höttges, CEO, Deutsche Telekom AG
Tobias Meyer, CEO, DHL Group
Carl Oetker, personally liable partner of Dr. August Oetker KG
Leo Birnbaum, CEO, E.ON SE
Christian Kullmann, CEO, Evonik Industries AG
Stefan Klebert, CEO, GEA Group AG
Clemens Junsthöfel, CEO, Hannover Rück SE
Dominik von Achten, CEO, Heidelberg Materials AG
Carsten Knobel, CEO, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA
Daniel Grieder, CEO, HUGO BOSS AG
Klaus Rinnerberger, CEO, LEONI AG
Carsten Spohr, CEO, Lufthansa Group
Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO, MAN Truck & Bus SE
Ola Källenius, CEO, Mercedes-Benz AG
Belén Garijo, CEO, Merck KGaA
Lars Wagner, CEO, MTU Aero Engines AG
Joachim Wenning, CEO, Munich Reinsurance Company
Lionel Souque, CEO, REWE Group
Armin Papperger, CEO, Rheinmetall AG
Stefan Hartung, CEO, Robert Bosch GmbH
Norbert Rollinger, CEO, R + V Versicherung AG
Markus Krebber, CEO, RWE AG
Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO, Schaeffler AG
Torsten Derr, CEO, Schott AG
Roland Busch, CEO, Siemens AG
Christian Bruch, CEO, Siemens Energy AG
Bernd Montag, CEO, Siemens Healthineers AG
Jochen Burg, CEO, SMS group GmbH
Miguel Ángel López Borrego, CEO, thyssenkrupp AG
Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, CEO, TRUMPF SE + Co. KG
Michael Lewis, CEO, Uniper SE
Oliver Blume, CEO Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG
Rolf Buch, CEO, Vonovia AG
Christian Hartel, CEO, Wacker Chemie AG
Source
Featured image source, ghetto: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/nazi-germany-and-establishment-ghettos
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