-Caveat Lector- German publisher Bertelsmann reaffirms regret over Nazi era
BERLIN - German publisher Bertelsmann said Monday it will adopt as its official history a report by an independent panel of historians that found the company made indirect use of Jewish slave laborers during World War II. Chief executive Gunter Thielen reaffirmed the firm's "sincere regret" over inaccuracies in the company's previous history and its activities during the Nazi era as Ertelsmann presented the final report by a commission led by Israeli historian Saul Friedlaender. Bertelsmann asked Friedlaender to investigate its wartime activities in 1998, after a German journalist published a story accusing the publisher of covering up its Nazi ties. "We have learned that we cannot neglect our history, rather, our goal was to uncover the truth and learn from the mistakes that we have made," Thielen said in a statement, adding that all the material used for the 800-page report would be made publicly available. The commission that while the company used no slave laborers at its headquarters in Guetersloh, printing facilities that were used by Bertelsmann in Nazi-occupied Vilnius, Lithuania - and likely in Riga, Latvia as well - forced Jews from the local ghettos to work. "It is unclear if C. Bertelsmann had any influence on the work conditions in these presses, and if, on account of the use of cheaper (Jewish) forced labor, the move to the Baltic for printing meant saving money," the report concluded. Bertelsmann used a total of about 100 printing shops on a contract basis during World War II, about half in Germany and half in foreign countries - mostly in the Netherlands - said Reinhard Wittmann, one of the report's authors. Because of the poor state of archives in the Baltic states, it proved impossible to determine if other printing houses used by Bertelsmann there employed slave labor, or if Bertelsmann was even aware that the two in Vilnius and Riga did, Wittmann said in a telephone interview. "We don't know if Bertelsmann knew about these slave laborers in the printing shops," Wittmann said. "All we know is that there were slave laborers in these printing shops, and that Bertelsmann used these printers for their books." Still, the committee found that there was no doubt the company had close ties to the Nazi regime, particularly the Propaganda Ministry. A total circulation of 19 million volumes during World War II made the company the largest publisher for the German army, and it was responsible for more than a quarter of the 75,000 texts distributed to soldiers, including manuals and propaganda material. With the pamphlet series "Exciting Stories," sold by the millions to teen-agers and soldiers at the front, Bertelsmann "placed itself in the service of a nationalist, and in the end racist and anti-Bolshevik propaganda," the report said. Booklets on battles during the war were "in complete harmony with the regime's wishes the war of aggression was depicted as a big adventure with a sure ending in victory by mentally and technically superior German troops." The historians said they had disproved a long-held contention that the company, founded in 1835 as a publisher of prayer books and hymnals, was shut down by the Nazis in 1944 because the then-chairman, Heinrich Mohn, was a devout Christian. They concluded the publishing house was in fact most likely shut down as a result of the war economy, not for political reasons. In a detailed investigation of Mohn's activities, the committee found that the chairman never joined the Nazi party but was a financial backer of the SS, Hitler's elite troops, and supported his children's membership in the Hitler Youth and other Nazi organizations. "True, he never joined the Nazi party, but his membership in the SS patrons' group signaled his readiness for a political arrangement," the report said. By The Associated Press www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=2 17164 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
