Hayes, Peter Geschäfte im Schatten des Holocaust

Deutsche Großunternehmen im Dritten Reich

What role did large German companies play during the Nazi era, and to what extent were they involved in the persecution of Jews? Peter Hayes examines 120 companies between 1927 and 1945, painting a shocking picture of a corrupt, anti-Semitic policy of persecution among the leading figures of German economic life. It has long been known that the German business world was involved in the crimes of the Nazi regime, but the extent of its complicity was not. The Nazi state succeeded in establishing a carrot and stick economic system in which the receipt of state funds, depending on the favour of those in power, was determined almost solely by the commercial success of a company. From the outset, this included the betrayal and persecution of Jewish employees. Even before the outbreak of war in 1939, conformity with war-oriented production policies and the resulting corruption of German management had progressed to such an extent that it seemed inevitable that the crimes of the regime would be supported and even justified. After decades of insight into long-withheld archive material, Peter Hayes has done truly pioneering work here and, with this book, presents for the first time a comprehensive and enlightening account of the interaction between large German companies and Nazi economic policy.