Bank Loans Helped Build Auschwitz
BERLIN — Newly discovered files from eastern Europe show that loans from a Deutsche Bank branch in Nazi-occupied Poland helped finance construction of the death camp at Auschwitz, the bank said Thursday.
Deutsche Bank officials were “extremely shocked” and immediately decided to turn the papers over to a commission of independent historians it appointed last year to research the bank’s Nazi past.
“We deeply regret this but recognize our responsibility to deal with these things openly,” said Walter Schumacher, spokesman for the Frankfurt-based bank.
The revelation comes as Deutsche Bank faces billions of dollars in claims by Holocaust victims who accuse it of profiting from looted assets.
The lawsuits also could delay regulatory approval of Deutsche Bank’s planned acquisition of U.S.-based Bankers Trust Corp.
“This news shows how deeply the Deutsche Bank was entangled with the activities of the Nazi regime,” said Michel Friedman, a leading spokesman for Germany’s Jewish community.
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