From Cooperation to Complicity
Degussa in the Third Reich

A case study of the involvement of a major, now multinational, corporation in the rise and expansion of Nazism.

Peter Hayes (Author)

9780521782272, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 September 2004

394 pages, 27 b/w illus. 1 map 17 tables
23.5 x 16.2 x 3 cm, 0.73 kg

'Hayes has produced a remarkable and highly readable book. From Cooperation to Complicity is impressive in overview, rich in detail, and , not the least, balanced in its judgements.' Zug

From Cooperation to Complicity is a study of the Degussa corporation, a firm which played a pivotal role in the processing of plundered precious metals in Nazi-occupied Europe and controlled the production and distribution of Zyklon B, the infamous pesticide used to gas the inmates of Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camps, during the Third Reich. The author traces the extent of the corporation's involvement in these and other Nazi war crimes, including the Aryanization of Jewish-owned property and the exploitation of forced labour, and delineates the motivations for such conduct.

List of illustrations
List of abbreviations
Preface and acknowledgements
1. Introduction and overview
2. The company, the party and the regime
3. Aryanization
4. Autarky and armament
5. Precious metals for the Reich
6. War production and spoliation
7. Forced labour
8. Degesch and Zyklon B
9. War's end and aftermath
Appendices
Index.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]