Lufthansa Admits Nazi System Involvement Amidst Historical Debate
In acknowledgement of its historical role, Lufthansa has commissioned an exhaustive scientific study into its involvement during the National Socialist era, particularly concerning the exploitation of forced laborers. The airline’s CEO has stated that Lufthansa was unequivocally “part of the system,” encompassing its clandestine rearmament, integration into the Nazi war economy, and the unscrupulous use of forced labor. This new analysis, to be published as a book and accompanied by an exhibition, critically examines this period, a retrospective step infrequently undertaken by German companies. Historians have described the former Luft Hansa’s close ties to the Nazi regime as a “symbiosis” that ultimately led to its collapse with the end of the war.
John Q. Hosedrinker