Study on the history of the DEA during the National Socialist period will be published

Invitation to book presentation:
"Fuelling the Second World War. Deutsche Erdöl AG, 1933-1945"

It supplied energy for the navy and exploited tens of thousands of forced labourers to do so: Deutsche Erdöl AG (DEA) shied away for a long time from looking at its actions under National Socialism.

In “Treibstoff für den Weltkrieg” (“Fuelling the Second World War“), Manfred Grieger and Rainer Karlsch present the first comprehensive analysis of DEA’s activities between 1933 and 1945, 125 years after the foundation of the German company steeped in tradition.

To examine DEA’s most important business areas, namely the production and processing of crude oil and lignite as well as hard coal mining, they compiled numerous new sources from Germany and abroad. In their study, the economic historians show for the first time in detail on how many levels DEA was entangled in the National Socialist armament and warmongering politics and how much the oil division in particular profited from the German expansion into Austria and Eastern Europe.

The company’s willingness to participate in ‘Aryanisations’ and the efforts of a Board member to personally enrich himself from the plight of Jewish businessmen are also presented extensively for the first time.

We cordially invite you to the book launch followed by a panel discussion on Thursday, 14 November 2024, at our premises at Am Lohsepark 8 in 20457 Hamburg.

Program

3.00 p.m. Reception
3.30 p.m. Welcome
Dr Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger (CEO, Society for Business History)
Stefan Schnell (Chairman of the Management Board, Wintershall Dea)
3.45 p.m. Lecture
“Fuelling the Second World War. Deutsche Erdöl AG, 1933-1945”
Professor Manfred Grieger (Georg August University Göttingen) and Dr Rainer Karlsch (Berlin)
4.30 p.m. Panel discussion
Hosted by Professor Walter Iber (University of Graz)
Participants:
Professor Manfred Grieger (Georg August University of Göttingen)
Dr Rainer Karlsch (Berlin)
Maria Wilke (Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”/EVZ)
Professor Detlef Garbe (formerly Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres/SHGL)
5.30 p.m. Farewell-Drink
6.00 p.m. End of the event