[Vision2020] Bayer Aspirin
Rosemary Huskey
donaldrose at cpcinternet.com
Mon Jun 16 21:59:28 PDT 2014
Hi Scott,
Whether people want to buy Bayer products (or products from the American
corporations they own) is a personal decision. I won’t. The reason that I
put this on V2020 is simple. I devoted a significant portion of my academic
training on Holocaust studies and yet, I had no idea that Bayer was the
original name of I.G. Farben. And, I certainly didn’t know that I.G.
Farben, as a corporate name, was replaced by a rebirth of Bayer I.A.
I suppose that most of the V2020 readers are aware that many of the
corporations that were alive and well before and during the Nazi era in
Germany continue to thrive today. The following article might contain some
surprises for them. I don’t even want to address the former war
criminals/Nazi scientists that we quickly and graciously invited into this
country in beat the Russians to their brains. A song from Tom Lehrer
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro> comes to mind. It makes me
ill to think that someone who should have been in jail for the rest of his
life was welcomed to this country as a intellectual colleague instead of the
monstrous criminal that he was.
My point is this: Bayer did not make reparations despite the fact that it
was part of the corporate punishment. That’s not okay with me. I am
dismayed that major corporations (then and now) continue to exercise power
and privilege over people who are powerless to stop them or to insist that
they are held responsible for the havoc they inflict on others. There is
precious little any of us can do about it but at least if we are aware of
who they were/are we can make choices about using their products. How we
stand on these issues today may reflect where would have stood in 1939.
Rose
11 Companies That Surprisingly Collaborated With the Nazis
<http://www.11points.com/News-Politics/11_Companies_That_Surprisingly_Collab
orated_With_the_Nazis>
written by Sam Greenspan
I saw this article
<http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2008/09/10/2008-09-10_gia
nts_and_jets_fans_join_uproar_over_st.html> today; it's about a controversy
over the German insurance company Allianz buying the naming rights to the
new New York Giants and Jets football stadium.
That's controversial because Allianz has very famous Nazi ties -- they
insured Auschwitz, their CEO was one of Hitler's advisers, and, during the
Holocaust, instead of paying life insurance benefits to Jews, they sent that
money straight to the Nazis.
Jewish groups don't want Allianz getting the naming rights to the new
Meadowlands. Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defanation League, says,
quote, "It would be an insult. It's putting their name in lights for
generations to come."
Since World War Two ended, Allianz has officially apologized for its role in
the Holocaust and has paid several million dollars in restitution. Which
brings me to a larger point here: At what point should we say to Nazi
collaborating companies, "OK. You've apologized, you've paid, none of your
current employees worked with the Nazis, it's time to move on"?
Because there are a TON of companies that worked with the Nazis. Way more
than the Allianz and the other 11 I'm about to talk about here. They've all
apologized. A lot have paid restitution. Two generations have passed.
I won't comment on whether I think people should forgive them... boycott
them... continue to patronize them, but begrudgingly... or continue to
patronize them with statements like, "Wow, Allianz, your insurance is SO
good, we're SO impressed with what you're doing. And if it wasn't for the
800 other, better insurance companies out there, we'd TOTALLY sign up with
you."
That's up to you. I'm just puttin' the information out there. Here are 11
companies that you may not realize collaborated with the Nazis.
1.
http://www.11points.com/images/nazicollablogos.jpg
The 12 Nazi collaborating companies featured in this article.
2. Kodak. During World War Two, Kodak's German branch used slave
laborers from concentration camps. Several of their other European branches
did heavy business with the Nazi government.
And Wilhelm Keppler, one of Hitler's top economic advisers, had deep ties in
Kodak. When Nazism began, Keppler advised Kodak and several other U.S.
companies that they'd benefit by firing all of their Jewish employees.
(Source: The Nation <http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010326/friedman> )
3. Hugo Boss. In the 1930s, Hugo Boss started making Nazi uniforms. The
reason: Hugo Boss himself had joined the Nazi party, and got a contract to
make the Hitler Youth, storm trooper and SS uniforms.
That was a huge boon for Hugo Boss... he got the contract just eight years
after founding his company... and that infusion of business helped take the
company to another level.
The Nazi uniform manufacturing went so well that Hugo Boss ended up needing
to bring in slave laborers in Poland and France to help out at the factory.
In 1997, Hugo's son, Siegfried Boss, told an Austrian news magazine, "Of
course my father belonged to the Nazi party. But who didn't belong back
then?" (Source: New York Times
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E4DF153FF936A2575BC0A961
958260> )
4. Volkswagen. Ferdinand Porsche, the man behind Volkswagen and
Porsche, met with Hitler in 1934, to discuss the creation of a "people's
car." (That's the English translation of Volkswagen.)
Hitler told Porsche to make the car with a streamlined shape, "like a
beetle." And that's the genesis of the Volkswagen Beetle... it wasn't just
designed for the Nazis, Hitler NAMED it.
During World War Two, it's believed that as many as four out of every five
workers at Volkswagen's plants were slave laborers. Ferdinand Porsche even
had a direct connection to Heinrich Himmler, one of the leaders of the SS,
to directly request slaves from Auschwitz. (Source: The Straight Dope
<http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1095/did-krups-braun-and-mercedes-
benz-make-nazi-concentration-camp-ovens> )
5. Bayer. During the Holocaust, a German company called IG Farben
manufactured the Zyklon B gas used in the Nazi gas chambers. They also
funded and helped with Josef Mengele's "experiments" on concentration camp
prisoners.
IG Farben is the company that turned the single largest profit from work
with the Nazis. After the War, the company was broken up. Bayer was one of
its divisions, and went on to become its own company.
Oh... and aspirin was founded by a Bayer employee, Arthur Eichengrun. But
Eichengrun was Jewish, and Bayer didn't want to admit that a Jewish guy
created the one product that keeps their company in business. So, to this
day, Bayer officially gives credit to Felix Hoffman, a nice Aryan man, for
inventing aspirin. (Source: Alliance for Human Research Protection
<http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/05/01/27a.php> , Pharmaceutical Achievers
<http://www.chemheritage.org/educationalservices/pharm/asp/asp60.htm> )
6. Siemens. Siemens took slave laborers during the Holocaust and had
them help construct the gas chambers that would kill them and their
families. Good people over there.
Siemens also has the single biggest post-Holocaust moment of insensitivity
of any of the companies on this list. In 2001, they tried to trademark the
word "Zyklon" (which means "cyclone" in German) to become the name a new
line of products... including a line of gas ovens.
Zyklon, of course, being the name of the poison gas used in their gas
chambers during the Holocaust.
A week later, after several watchdog groups appropriately freaked out,
Siemens withdrew the application. They said they never drew the connection
between the Zyklon B gas used during the Holocaust and their proposed Zyklon
line of products. (Source: BBC
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2233890.stm> )
7. Coca-Cola, specifically Fanta. Coke played both sides during World
War Two... they supported the American troops but also kept making soda for
the Nazis. Then, in 1941, the German branch of Coke ran out of syrup, and
couldn't get any from America because of wartime restrictions.
So they invented a new drink, specifically for the Nazis: A fruit-flavored
soda called Fanta.
That's right: Long before Fanta was associated with a bunch of exotic women
singing a god-awful jingle, it was the unofficial drink of Nazi Germany.
(Source: New Statesman <http://www.newstatesman.com/200405240002> )
8. Ford. Henry Ford is a pretty legendary anti-Semite, so this makes
sense. He was Hitler's most famous foreign backer. On his 75th birthday, in
1938, Ford received a Nazi medal, designed for "distinguished foreigners."
He profiteered off both sides of the War -- he was producing vehicles for
the Nazis AND for the Allies.
I'm wondering if, in a completely misguided piece of logic, Allianz points
to the Detroit Lions giving Ford the naming rights to their stadium as a
reason why they should get the rights to the Meadowlands. (Source: Reformed
Theology
<http://reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/chapter_06.htm> )
9. Standard Oil. The Luftwaffe needed tetraethyl lead gas in order to
get their planes off the ground. Standard Oil was one of only three
companies that could manufacture that type of fuel. So they did.
Without them, the German air force never could've even gotten their planes
off the ground.
When Standard Oil was dissolved as a monopoly, it led to ExxonMobil, Chevron
and BP, all of which are still around today. (But fortunately, their parent
company's past decision to make incredible profits off of war have not
carried on.) (Source: MIT's Thistle
<http://mit.edu/thistle/www/v13/3/oil.html> )
10. Chase bank. A lot of banks sided with the Nazis during World War
Two. Chase is the most prominent.
They froze European Jewish customers' accounts and were extremely
cooperative in providing banking service to Germany. (Source: New York Times
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E5DE123EF934A35752C1A96E
958260> )
11. IBM. IBM custom-build machines for the Nazis that they could use to
track everything... from oil supplies to train schedules into death camps to
Jewish bank accounts to individual Holocaust victims themselves.
In September of 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, the "New York Times"
reported that three million Jews were going to be "immediately removed" from
Poland and were likely going to be "exterminat[ed]."
IBM's reaction? An internal memo saying that, due to that "situation", they
really needed to step up production on high-speed alphabetizing equipment.
(Source: CNet
<http://news.cnet.com/Probing-IBMs-Nazi-connection/2009-1082_3-269157.html>
)
12. Random House publishing. Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann
A.G., worked for the Nazis... they published Hitler propaganda, and a book
called "Sterilization and Euthanasia: A Contribution to Applied Christian
Ethics".
Bertelsmann still owns and operates several companies. I picked Random House
because they drew controversy in 1997 when they decided to expand the
definition of Nazi in Webster's Dictionary.
Eleven years ago, they added the colloquial, softened definition of "a
person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to control a specified
activity, practice, etc." (Think "Soup Nazi".)
The Anti-Defamation League called that expanded definition offensive...
especially when added by a company with Nazi ties... they said it, quote,
"trivializes and denies the murderous intent and actions of the Nazi
regime... it also cheapens the language by allowing people to reach for a
quick word fix... [and] lends a helping hand to those whose aim is to prove
that the Nazis were really not such terrible people." (Source: New York
Observer <http://www.observer.com/node/40950> , ADL
<http://www.adl.org/presrele/holna_52/2881_52.asp> )
This list was originally published on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at
06:00:00 PM under the category News
<http://www.11points.com/News-Politics/> & Politics..
From: Scott Dredge [mailto:scooterd408 at hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 6:40 PM
To: Rosemary Huskey; viz
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Bayer Aspirin
What is the end goal on this...don't buy Bayer A. G. products until they
apologize (again) and/or pay fines (again) and/or damages (again)?
Seems like there was already due process on this based on <All things
considered, they got off with wrist slaps. The corporation was ordered to
pay reparations to the surviving members of the thousands of I.G. Farben
slave laborers forced to work under the usual heinous conditions employed by
Nazi collaborators. After their all-too-brief prison sentences the
following jackasses bounced right on back to their old positions of power
and authority.>
If this were a US criminal case, they wrongdoers would be protected by
double jeopardy. Of course, it's not so all bets are off.
_____
From: donaldrose at cpcinternet.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 11:38:16 -0700
Subject: [Vision2020] Bayer Aspirin
[Short version of this email]
Please do not buy medications or over the counter products from Bayer A.G.
(a German based corporation) or its U.S. based subsidiaries purchased “In
1978, Bayer purchased Miles Laboratories
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Laboratories> and its subsidiaries
Miles Canada
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Miles_Canada&action=edit&redlink=
1> and Cutter Laboratories
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutter_Laboratories> (along with a product
line including Alka-Seltzer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alka-Seltzer> ,
Flintstones vitamins
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintstones_chewable_vitamins> and One-A-Day
vitamins, and Cutter insect repellent
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_repellent> ). In 1994, Bayer AG
purchased Sterling WinthropI's over-the-counter
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-counter_drug> drug business from
SmithKline Beecham <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmithKline_Beecham> and
merged it with Miles Laboratories, thereby reacquiring the U.S. and Canadian
trademark rights to "Bayer" and the Bayer cross, as well as the ownership of
the Aspirin trademark in Canada.” Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer
[The longer version with background and citations that explains the reason
for my request follows below.]
Last night I watched a PBS show on the commercial development and marketing
of aspirin around the end turn of the 19th century. The work was initiated
and directed by a brilliant Jewish chemist, Dr. Arthur Eichengrün , in
Germany. At the time the company was known as Bayer – the surname of one of
the original owners. Thanks to
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1119266/> recent research this
by Dr Walter Sneader of Strathclyde University the previous anti-Semitic
error of attributing this “invention” to a man named Hoffman has been
corrected.
Dr. Eichengrün left the company in 1908 to pursue an independent career. In
the years prior to World War II Dr. Eichengrün was recognized as a
brilliant and inventive fellow who (theoretically) enjoyed the respect of
business and intellectual German communities.
Post WWI Bayer Company changed its name to I.G. Farben. Does the name sound
familiar? I hope it does. Following WWII the significant managers of I.G.
Farben were charged with war crimes
<http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_igfarben08.htm>
(see below). All things considered, they got off with wrist slaps. The
corporation was ordered to pay reparations to the surviving members of the
thousands of I.G. Farben slave laborers forced to work under the usual
heinous conditions employed by Nazi collaborators. After their
all-too-brief prison sentences the following jackasses bounced right on back
to their old positions of power and authority. Please click on the names of
the men below. Yes, it will take a small amount of your time to read about
these unrepentant monsters, but you have the luxury of being able to educate
yourself – a gift denied millions of others (including American service men
and women in the European theatre) who died because of them and their
company’s products.
For example:
Hermann Schmitz
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Schmitz_%28industrialist%29> , became
a member of the supervisory board for the Deutsche Bank
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Bank> in Berlin and honorary
chairman of the supervisory board of Rheinische Stahlwerke AG [19]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-19>
Georg von Schnitzler <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_von_Schnitzler> ,
served as president of the Deutsch-Ibero-Amerikanische Gesellschaft [20]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-20> supervisory board
member of several firms [21]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-21>
Otto Ambros <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Ambros> , held seats on
supervisory boards Chemie Grünenthal
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemie_Gr%C3%BCnenthal> (being active during
the Contergan scandal), Feldmühle, and Telefunken, and worked as an economic
consultant in Mannheim <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannheim> [22]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-22>
Heinrich Bütefisch <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_B%C3%BCtefisch> ,
became a member of the supervisory boards for Deutsche Gasolin AG,
Feldmühle, and Papier- und Zellstoffwerke AG, and consultied with Ruhrchemie
AG Oberhausen and subsequently joining its supervisory board.[23]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-23>
Max Ilgner <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ilgner> , became the chairman
of the executive board of a chemistry firm in Zug
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zug> [24]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-24>
Heinrich Oster <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Oster> , became a
member of the supervisory board of Gelsenberg AG.[25]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-25>
Some of the people who were acquitted
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquitted> (what a miscarriage of justice)
and later became leaders in post war-companies include:
Fritz Gajewski <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Gajewski> , became
chairman of the board of Dynamit Nobel
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamit_Nobel> .[26]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-26>
Christian Schneider (chemist)
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Schneider_%28chemist%29> , became a
member of the supervisory boards of Süddeutsche Kalkstickstoff-Werke AG
Trostberg and Rheinauer Holzhydrolyse-GmbH, Mannheim [27]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-27>
Hans Kühne <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_K%C3%BChne> , held a position
at Bayer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer> Elberfeld
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elberfeld> .[28]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-28>
Carl Lautenschläger <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lautenschl%C3%A4ger>
, became a research associate at Bayer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer>
Elberfeld <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elberfeld> .[29]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-29>
Wilhelm Rudolf Mann <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Rudolf_Mann> ,
resumed his position as head of pharmaceutical sales at Bayer
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer> . He also presided over the GfK,
Society for Consumer Research, and the Foreign Trade Committee of the BDI,
Federation of German Industry.[30]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-30>
Carl Wurster <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Wurster> , resumed his
position of chairman of the managing board, and was the major force behind
the reestablishment of BASF <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASF> . After
retiring, he continued to be active as a member and chairman of supervisory
boards in companies such as Bosch
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bosch_GmbH> , Degussa (later being
acquired by RAG <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAG_Aktiengesellschaft> [31]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-31> ), and Allianz
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allianz> .[32]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-32>
Heinrich Gattineau <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Gattineau> , beame
a member of the board and supervisory council of WASAG Chemie-AG, and
Mitteldeutsche Sprengstoff-Werke GmbH [33]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#cite_note-33>
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben
I.G. Farben was reorganized as an empty holding company in order to avoid
paying the ordered reparations to the slave labor survivors used by their
company. The litigation, which lasted over sixty years effectively allowed
the corporation to dodge essentially all payments. I.G. Farben reverted to
its pre World War I name, Bayer A.G, and has continued to thrive worldwide.
Which brings me to the reason for this email (and arguably, more post WWII
business history than you ever want to know).
“In 1978, Bayer purchased Miles Laboratories
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Laboratories> and its subsidiaries
Miles Canada
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Miles_Canada&action=edit&redlink=
1> and Cutter Laboratories
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutter_Laboratories> (along with a product
line including Alka-Seltzer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alka-Seltzer> ,
Flintstones vitamins
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintstones_chewable_vitamins> and One-A-Day
vitamins, and Cutter insect repellent
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_repellent> ). In 1994, Bayer AG
purchased Sterling WinthropI's over-the-counter
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-counter_drug> drug business from
SmithKline Beecham <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmithKline_Beecham> and
merged it with Miles Laboratories, thereby reacquiring the U.S. and Canadian
trademark rights to "Bayer" and the Bayer cross, as well as the ownership of
the Aspirin trademark in Canada.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer . This source also includes
recent law suits against Bayer A.G. and its subsidiaries - demonstrating
that I.G. Farben philosophy (in all but name) is alive and well in 2014.
If I.G. Farben corporate officers had not been reinstated or had not easily
found other prominent corporate positions in Germany after World War II, if
the company (or the men) had accepted responsibility for their monstrous
behavior and allegiance to the Nazi party and insisted that their
corporation(s) pay reparations we might accept that they felt some kind of
guilt and responsibility for the Holocaust. They didn’t – and as recently
as 2003 Farben I.G. dba Bayer A.G. were still tying up unpaid reparations
in senseless litigation. However, they were and remained unapologetic Nazi
collaborators that enriched themselves before, during, and after WWII.
There is nothing we can do about the deaths of millions of people seventy +
years ago. There is something we can do now. The lack of contrition of
this corporation deserves a response even at this late date.
I urge you not to buy or use products from Bayer A.G. or the subsidiaries
listed above. It is a small, indeed insignificant, stand when considered
against the global reach of the corporation. But it is a matter of
conscience that we can easily adopt. And, we can encourage others in our
various circles of friends, family, and co-workers to stand with us in
opposition against this wretched corporation.
Rose Huskey
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