THREAD—"When Hitler took power in 1933, #DeutscheBank was transformed into a financing source for the Nazi military machine. [...] Deutsche Bank and its executives were parties to genocide." harpercollins.com/9780062878816/…
"World War II and the Holocaust would happened without the bank, but its participation allowed the Nazis to improve the ruthless efficiency of their military campaign and their quest to 'cleanse' Europe of Jews. And it was not an accident.
"Deutsche was involved because of decisions made by the bank's leaders for reasons of expediency, if not ideology. Once Hitler ascended, the Jewish members of the bank's board were forced to resign.
"The resignations had been suggested by Germany's central bank, and though some Deutsche executives worried about setting a bad precedent, they were overruled by colleagues who were inclined to remain in the good graces of the Nazis.
"At the bank's annual employee meeting in 1933, Nazis flags hung on the walls and podium, and the gathering began with a parade of the company's SS members. Deutsche soon started pressuring its clients to remove Jews from their boards of directors.
"By 1938, the bank had conducted hundreds of 'Aryannizations'--taking over Jewish businesses or assets and handing them over to Aryans. In the 1940s, the bank's annual reports were adorned with swastikas in lieu of ta corporate logo." nytimes.com/1995/02/22/bus…
"In the late 1950s, Deutsche again spread its wings internationally. [...] With much of the West focused on the threat of communism, the war-criminal taint faded.
"In 1957, [convicted war criminal and Deutsche president Hermann] Abs and his wife were invited to attend Eisenhower's second inaugural."
