BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Nearly 50 German companies have jointly commemorated the crimes of the Nazi era and acknowledged their own historical responsibility. These include companies such as Bayer, BASF, Bosch, Evonik, Siemens, Deutsche Bahn, Volkswagen, Lufthansa, and Rheinmetall. The declaration was reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Die Zeit. The occasion is the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.
"The seizure of power by the National Socialists in 1933 would have been inconceivable without the failure of the decision-makers in politics, the military, the judiciary, and the economy at the time," states the joint declaration, which is also available to the German Press Agency. "German companies helped to consolidate the rule of the National Socialists. Focused on their own interests, many companies and their leaders at the time were complicit."
Today, companies are taking responsibility, the statement continues. The crimes serve as a warning of the fragility of democracy. "Together, we stand against hatred, exclusion, and anti-Semitism. With us, there can and will be no closing of the book." The Allied victory over the Nazis in 1945 gave hope to an entire continent.
Democracy requires conviction and courage, the declaration states. "In 1933 and afterwards, too many people remained silent, looked away and kept quiet. This is where our responsibility stems from – for the past, for the present and for the future." The first signatories include the heads of 49 companies. Others can join them./vsr/DP/jha
