Lufthansa finally owns up to Nazi ties and ‘war crimes’ after decades of whitewashing its origins

Lufthansa is fessing up.

After decades of dismissals, the German airline is taking responsibility for its ties to the Nazi Party during the Second World War, after commissioning a study into the company’s own history.

“Lufthansa was clearly part of the system,” said Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa’s CEO, during a press conference at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday, revealing the company relied on forced labour to build a “clandestine air force” for the National Socialist government to commit “war crimes and criminal activities.”

The study was done as part of a retrospective on Lufthansa’s history during its 100th year of operation, which includes a forthcoming book on the subject.

Previously, the company ignored its ties to the regime — on a technicality/

Deutsche Luft Hansa AG, a German state-subsidized carrier and armaments company founded in 1926, was dissolved and liquidated as WWII came to a close. In 1953, Deutsche Lufthansa AG was founded by staff from the previous iteration after acquiring the rights to the shuttered company name and logo.

Author Lutz Budrass previously wrote a book on Lufthansa’s history.

In a 2020 interview, he told Deutsche Welle, “Lufthansa, like most companies, was not held accountable for its actions.”

Despite the original airline’s closure, Budrass noted that key players in the new Lufthansa had been highly involved with the previous, namely, Kurt Weigelt, vice chairman, and Kurt Knipfer, a former Purssion officer who led Lufthansa until 1945. “There was a strong continuity in its staff.”

“With the new founding, the company wanted to distance itself from the horrors of the past and the crimes committed under National Socialism, which were perpetrated by Lufthansa.”

Budrass further claimed at the time, “It’s clear that Lufthansa is not ready to take this step,” referring to the airline’s reluctance to formally acknowledge its problematic origins.

In its mea culpa on Tuesday, the airline wrote in a statement, “In examining its history, Lufthansa does not limit itself to the post-war chapters of its history. The years from its founding to the decline of the first Lufthansa are also part of the company’s history.”