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In the Third Reich
1933 - 1945
Hitler's seizure of power in 1933 marked the beginning of the darkest chapter in the history of Deutsche Bank. By 1945, after twelve years of National-Socialist rule and six years of war, not only was the bank itself on the brink of the abyss; it had also allowed itself to become a tool of the Nazi state.
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Newsletter of the National Socialist Working Organization for Deutsche Bank and Disconto Gesellschaft |
Although its leading representatives scarcely agreed with the ideology of National Socialism, they complied with the racist goals of the regime from the outset, putting up no resistance; the feeling of impotence and feebleness instilled in them by the aftermath of the 1931 banking crisis and the anti-bank ideology of leading Nazis was simply too great. Adaptation and a willingness to compromise were in their view the order of the day. For instance, by 1934 the three members of the board of managing directors whom the new government defined as Jews had been banished from the bank's official bodies. Only on the supervisory board was a Jewish colleague tolerated as late as 1938.
What had begun with the dismissal of Jewish staff soon continued with the so-called "aryanisation" of Jewish firms. This ousting of the Jewish population from the business life of the nation reached its peak in 1938, when following a series of laws and decrees Jews were forbidden to indulge in any kind of economic activity. By the end of 1938, Deutsche Bank had been involved as an intermediary and lender in at least 363 "aryanisations".
When in 1938 the National-Socialist government began systematically to monitor and freeze Jewish assets, Deutsche Bank's Jewish customers were affected as much as those of all other banks. By the time the war ended, almost all account assets and deposits held by Jewish customers had been transferred to the German Reich. This exercise in dispossession proceeded under cover of a seamless panoply of laws and ordinances that gave a semblance of legality to what was in effect robbery by the state. No one offered any direct resistance to the new Nazi legislation; in fact, to do so would have been extremely dangerous, as witness the example of two Deutsche Bank directors who were executed in 1943 simply for voicing "defeatist" remarks.
Even before the Second World War, Deutsche Bank used the aggressive expansion of the German Reich into Austria and the Czech lands in order to acquire new branches in those areas and holdings in banks already operating there. Following the outbreak of war, the same kind of business expansion was pursued in the occupied countries of western and south-east Europe.
As a bank with international connections and a branch of its own in neutral Turkey, in the period 1942-44 Deutsche Bank was also involved in the German Reich's gold transactions. During those years, Deutsche Bank purchased 4,446 kg of gold from the Reichsbank, selling it on in Istanbul. As we now know from the findings of the independent Historical Commission Appointed to Examine the History of Deutsche Bank in the Period of National Socialism, at least 744 kg of that gold came from Holocaust victims. However, no crystal-clear answer could be found to the question of whether the bank was aware of the origin of that gold.
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Deutsche Bank Katowice branch |
Research of the independent historical Commission also emerged that the Katowice branch and the sub-branches under it had granted loans to construction firms working at Auschwitz, where they were engaged in building the IG-Farben factory and the concentration camp.
Deutsche Bank acknowledges its ethical and moral responsibility. That is why it is not only involved in the foundation set up jointly by German business and the federal government, "Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future"; it is also making every effort to have its own past fully and critically reappraised.
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1933-34
Jewish members Oscar Wassermann, Theodor Frank and Georg Solmssen are forced to resign from the management board
1937
The company's name reverts to "Deutsche Bank"
1938
"Aryanisations" reach their peak - by November 1938 Deutsche Bank has been involved in 363 of them
Takeover of the Sudeten-German branches of Böhmische Union-Bank, Prague, and of Deutsche Agrar- und Industriebank, Prague
1939
Majority of the share capital of Böhmische Union-Bank, Prague, held by Deutsche Bank
1941
Participation in Bankverein AG, Belgrade, and Bankverein für Kroatien, Zagreb
1942
Majority holding in Creditanstalt-Bankverein, Vienna
1942-43
Closure (due to war) of 82 branches and 54 sub-branches
1945
Closure of Deutsche Bank head office in Berlin and of all branches in the Soviet-occupied zone
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Corporate Social Responsibility
The CSR portal provides a comprehensive overview of the corporate citizenship activities of Deutsche Bank and its foundations.
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History of our Logo
Find out more about the history of our Logo.
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