Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Skeleton in the cupboard

The Reimann family are the second richest family in Germany with an estimated net worth of €33bn ($37bn). They own of Krispy Kreme and Pret a Manger and also have majority shares in Peets Tea and Coffee, Panera Bread and Dr Pepper.

A report in Bild, confirmed by the family’s spokesman, shows that ancestors of Reimann family were enthusiastic antisemites and keen supporters of Adolf Hitler. They used Russian civilians and French prisoners of war as forced labourers in their factories. The report contains harrowing details about the family’s treatment of forced workers: female slaves, mostly from eastern Europe, were forced to stand naked in the factory barracks during checks. Those who refused were beaten and sexually abused. Other workers were beaten, often by the Reimanns themselves, including a Russian woman who worked in the Reimanns’ private villa.
In July 1937, Albert Reimann Jr wrote to Heinrich Himmler, the SS leader responsible for the Holocaust, saying that his business was “a purely Aryan family business that is over 100 years old”, he wrote. “The owners are unconditional followers of the race theory.”
After discovering the extent of the Nazi ties, the family have said they will donate €10 million ($11.3m, £8.5m) to charity, though they’re yet to say which one

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