Adolf Hitler donation from the German economy
The Adolf Hitler donation of the German economy was on June 1, 1933 by Empire state of German Industries introduced (RStDI) donation in favor of the NSDAP . The levy was named after the leader of the NSDAP, Adolf Hitler , and was intended to support “national reconstruction”. The funds were de facto available to Hitler for personal disposal.
This fundraising campaign for National Socialism was initiated in the spring of 1933 by Gustav Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach , Hjalmar Schacht and Martin Bormann . At a meeting between Hitler, Göring and Schacht with representatives of important companies such as IG Farben , Friedrich Krupp AG , Vereinigte Stahlwerke , AEG , Siemens AG , Adam Opel AG , Hitler explained the main features of his policy and promised the elimination of the unions and the end of everyone democratic process for the next few decades. Krupp was active in his function as "leader" of the RStDI, before he was president of the previous organization Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie (RDI), which was dissolved on May 22, 1933 and which had merged with the Association of German Employers' Associations (VDAV) to form the RStDI. Therefore, Krupp was also responsible for the board of trustees installed to organize the payment . The Adolf Hitler donation from the German economy sealed the "alliance of interests" between the NSDAP and employers' associations, in return the regime set up the General Council of Business , with which Krupp and other business magnates were supposed to secure their political influence.
In the years after its introduction in 1933, when participation in the payment was voluntary, the Adolf Hitler donation developed more and more into a compulsory levy for numerous companies in industry, banking and agriculture. For example, by order of the Reich leadership of the Reich Unity Association of the German Catering Industry, all innkeepers had to pay one percent of their turnover for the Adolf Hitler donation to the German economy between August 1 and 31, 1933. Innkeepers who refused were reported.
The industrial associations urged participation in the levy, as this enabled them to avoid the various fundraising collections from the NSDAP environment: in a party ordinance, Rudolf Hess forbade all members and departments of the NSDAP from asking those companies and associations that were already involved in the Adolf in fundraising campaigns -Hitler donation .
The amount to be paid was calculated based on the total wages and salaries of the previous year. This means that companies' ancillary wage costs were increased. The percentage load was 5 per thousand of the total wage costs of a company. By 1945, 700 million Reichsmarks were raised in donations.
literature
- Office of Military Government for Germany (US) (OMGUS): Investigations against Deutsche Bank 1946/1947 . Verlag Franz Greno, 1985, ISBN 3921568668 .
- Konrad Repgen: Files of the Reich Chancellery . Vol. 2, Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard 1983.
Web links
- Documents and newspaper articles on the Adolf Hitler donation from the German economy in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Daniela Kahn: The control of the economy through law in National Socialist Germany. The example of the Reichsgruppe Industrie. Klostermann, Frankfurt 2006, ISBN 9783465040125 , p. 516.
- ↑ a b c Daniela Kahn: The control of the economy through law in National Socialist Germany. The example of the Reichsgruppe Industrie. Klostermann, Frankfurt 2006, ISBN 9783465040125 , pp. 165f.
- ↑ Article: "One percent of sales for the Hitler donation". In: Vossische Zeitung, No. 431 September 9, 1933
- ^ Rüdiger Hachtmann : Science management in the "Third Reich". Göttingen: Wallstein 2007, Volume II, p. 1032, note 247