The Corporate Shadow Cast Over the Holocaust

Private sector participation in Nazi crimes was both extensive and insidious, often hidden behind the veil of legitimate business operations. As the Nazi regime expanded its reach across Europe, many companies became complicit in horrific acts, driven by the pursuit of profit and survival in a totalitarian state. This narrative delves into the darker side of corporate involvement during one of history's most brutal eras.

Aryanization: The Economic Exclusion

The process of Aryanization was a systematic expulsion of Jews from the economic sphere. Corporations played a crucial role, particularly through dismissals and property confiscations. German banks were instrumental in the takeover of Jewish companies, often following directives that prioritized state benefits over profitability. This economic purge extended beyond Germany's original borders, as German banks collaborated closely with the Gestapo to Aryanize businesses in annexed countries such as Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

Insurance companies like Allianz, organized under the Reich Group for Insurance, played their part as well. Following the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, they agreed to transfer all claims to the state, cunningly suggesting that Jews were somehow responsible for the violence against them. By November 1941, these companies were ordered to report and transfer the assets of Jews who had emigrated or were deported, a task they lamented due to manpower shortages but did not resist.

Furthermore, companies aided the SS in selling gold and property confiscated from murdered Jews. Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank laundered at least 744 kilograms of "victim gold," converting it into bars via Degussa and selling them in Turkey for foreign currency.

Forced Labor: Industry's Human Cost

From 1941 onwards, private companies began leasing concentration camp prisoners for forced labor projects. The most infamous example was IG Farben's factory at the Monowitz concentration camp, where an estimated 35,000 prisoners were forced to work, with 25,000 perishing. Krupp and Flick were other major users, with Flick employing 40,000 slave laborers at one time, surpassing any other steel company.

Even subsidiaries of American companies in Germany utilized slave labor. The going rate for hiring these prisoners was three to four Reichsmarks daily, covering clothing, food, and SS guard details, but companies bore the costs of accommodation and medical care. This pricing structure incentivized longer working hours, exacerbating the already dire conditions and increasing mortality rates among prisoners.

The Grim Reality of Nazi Human Experimentation

IG Farben's involvement extended to Nazi human experimentation. Unwilling prisoners at Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen were subjected to horrific experiments, including deliberate infections with typhus, to test drug efficacy. In these experiments, the mortality rate was a grim 50 percent, both in treatment and control groups.

Technologies of Death: Facilitating Genocide

The genocide of Jews and others was made more efficient by German industrial technologies. Degesch, a subsidiary of IG Farben and Degussa, produced Zyklon B gas, which was primarily used for pest control but found its way into the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau and other camps, responsible for mass murders.

Topf and Sons constructed the crematoria and ventilation systems for gas chambers, ensuring the efficiency of mass killings. Meanwhile, the Dutch railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, received the equivalent of 3 million euros (2019) for transporting over 100,000 Jews from the Netherlands to their deaths.

The Aftermath: Prosecution and Restitution

In the post-war period, individuals and companies faced prosecution and restitution claims, although they were often reluctant to accept responsibility. The subsequent Nuremberg trials included the Flick, IG Farben, and Krupp trials, where the necessity of forced labor was defended successfully. This defense undermined the doctrine that superior orders do not absolve one of crimes. By 1951, all convicted industrialists were released by John J. McCloy, the United States High Commissioner of Germany, and most confiscated assets were returned. Many businessmen resumed their roles in the corporate world.

Bruno Tesch and Karl Weinbacher of Tesch & Stabenow were exceptions. After being found guilty as accomplices to murder for supplying Zyklon B, they were sentenced to death by a British military court and executed—the only civilian businessmen to face such consequences in Western Europe.

The Struggle for Restitution

Business leaders often portrayed themselves as victims of the Nazi regime, denying responsibility for forced labor and claiming they were coerced. Historian Jonathan Wiesen noted the pervasive "language of self-victimization" during restitution negotiations. Companies commissioned literature to shift blame exclusively onto the Nazis, arguing their innocence.

In a landmark case, Auschwitz survivor Norbert Wollheim's claim against IG Farben saw the company argue that it had protected prisoners from SS policies. The 1990s brought new civil proceedings in the United States, leading to settlements compensating survivors and heirs. A major 1999 settlement established a fund of 10 billion Deutsche Marks; however, Wiesen remarked that this was more a pragmatic response to legal pressures than an expression of contrition.

Sources

For further reading and verification of the facts presented here, please visit the Wikipedia article.