Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation

Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Stiftung
Formation	January 1, 1968; 56 years ago (1968-01-01)
Founder	Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach
Type	Nonprofit
Purpose	Philanthropy
Headquarters	Essen, Germany
Key people	Ursula Gather (Managing Director) Volker Troche (Speaker of Executive Board) Michaela Muylkens
Endowment	€ 1.2 billion (2021)
Website	www.krupp-stiftung.de (in German)

The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation ( German: Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung) is a major German philanthropic foundation, created by and named in honor of Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, former owner and head of the Krupp company ^[1] and a convicted war criminal. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Organization

Board of Trustees

• Ursula Gather (chair)
  • Christoph M. Schmidt (deputy chairman)
  • Thomas Brandt
  • Rainer Esser
  • Ulrike Groos
  • Armin Laschet
  • Sabine Lautenschläger
  • Bernd Pischetsrieder
  • Gabriele Sadowski
  • Kersten von Schenk

Executive Board

• Ursula Gather (managing director)
  • Volker Troche (speaker and member)
  • Michaela Muylkens (member)

History

The Krupp company, officially known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was a major steelmaker and arms manufacturer that became a key supplier of weapons and materiel to the German government and the Wehrmacht during World War II. The "Krupp Law" ( Lex Krupp), signed into law by Adolf Hitler in 1943, allowed Alfried Krupp to become sole proprietor of the company. ^[4] The Krupp company instituted slave labor at its factories ^[3] and by the end of World War II had forcibly employed as many as 100,000 individuals, including concentration camp inmates, foreign civilians and children. ^[2] A Krupp munitions factory (Weichsel Union Metallwerke) was constructed near the Auschwitz death camp to facilitate the employment of camp inmates. ^[7]

Beginning in 1947, a United States military tribunal tried Krupp and 11 co-defendants for war crimes and crimes against humanity, citing in particular the use of forced labor in their factories (the " Krupp trial"). On 31 July 1948, Krupp was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison. ^[3] After serving three years, he was pardoned ^[8] by John J. McCloy, the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, and his properties were reinstated. ^[9]

In 1959, the Krupp company pledged to pay individual compensations of DM5,000 ($1,190) to 2,000 slave workers (2% of all the estimated 100,000 slave workers), totalling DM10,000,000 (US$2,380,000). Adjusted for inflation, this corresponds to approximately €23.7 million or US$27.1 million in 2022. ^[10] The company denied non-Jewish inmates of the concentration camps any claim to compensation. ^[11]

After Krupp's death in 1967, control of the Krupp company passed to the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, a philanthropic organisation, at Krupp's behest. ^[12] Today, the foundation is the largest shareholder of the ThyssenKrupp industrial conglomerate (20.9% as of 2018) and largely controls the board of the company. The foundation is also tasked with preserving the "unity" of ThyssenKrupp. ^[13]

The foundation provides grants in the fields of health, athletics, education, science and culture. ^[14]

Other institutions named after Alfried Krupp

• Alfried Krupp Hospital [ de], Essen
• Alfried Krupp Institute for Advanced Study, Greifswald, Germany
• Alfried Krupp PhD Grant ^[15]
• Alfried Krupp (ship) [ de]
• Alfried Krupp Street, Essen, Germany ^[16]

See also

• Holocaust victims
• List of companies involved in the Holocaust
• List of victims and survivors of Auschwitz

References

External links

• Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation
• Krupp Armaments at Auschwitz