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Berthold Beitz (; 26 September 1913 – 30 July 2013) was a German industrialist. He was the head of the
Krupp
The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
steel conglomerate beginning in the 1950s. He was credited with helping to lead the re-industrialization of the
Ruhr Valley
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
and rebuilding Germany into an industrial power. He gained acclaim for saving some 250
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish workers during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by declaring them to be essential workers at an oil facility. In 1973, for saving Jews, he received the
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...
title awarded by the Israeli
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
, the highest honor given to a non-Jew.
Early years
Beitz was born in 1913 in
Zemmin,
Hither Pomerania
Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (german: Vorpommern), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania forming the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Weste ...
. He began his career as a banker at the "Pommersche Bank" in
Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...
and started to work for
Shell Oil Company
Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...
in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
in 1938.
World War II
Beitz remained in the employ of Shell Oil when World War II began in 1939. Following Germany's invasion and occupation of
Borysław in July 1941, Beitz was assigned to supervise the Carpathian Oil Company operating the
Borysław oil fields in what is now Ukraine. Given the importance of the oil fields to the German war effort, Beitz was able to designate workers as essential to the war effort.
The Borysław area had a large Jewish population, with many Jews holding positions as chemical engineers, laboratory assistants, mechanics, and laborers in the area's oil industry.
[
After witnessing the "Invaliden-Aktion" in August 1942, an SS-led evacuation of a Jewish orphanage in Borysław, Beitz became determined to act to save local Jews. Having a position of importance, Beitz received advance word of Nazi actions against local Jews and provided warning to the Jewish community. He also had the opportunity to select suitable workers from Jews who were being held at transfer points for deportation to concentration camps. In August 1942, he "extricated 250 Jewish men and women from the transport train to the ]Belzec extermination camp
Belzec (English: or , Polish: ) was a Nazi German extermination camp built by the SS for the purpose of implementing the secretive Operation Reinhard, the plan to murder all Polish Jews, a major part of the "Final Solution" which in total ...
by claiming them as 'professional workers.'" Beitz recalled, "I should have employed qualified personnel. Instead, I chose tailors, hairdressers and Talmudic scholars and gave them all cards as vital 'petroleum technicians.'"[
Together with his wife Else, Beitz also hid Jews in his home.] He also issued and signed fake work permits to save other Jews from the death camps. In 1943, Beitz's efforts were nearly exposed after two Jewish girls were arrested on a train to Hungary with forged "Aryan" permits signed by Beitz. Beitz survived despite a Gestapo investigation into the incident, but he was drafted into the German army in March 1944.[ In total, Beitz has been credited with saving the lives of 800 Jews.]
Beitz later explained his motivation: "I saw how people were shot, how they were lined up in the night. My motives were not political; they were purely humane, moral motives."[ In another interview, he explained: "It wasn't anti-Fascism, nor was it resistance. We saw from dawn to dusk, as close as could be, what was happening to Boryslav's Jews. When you see a mother holding her children being shot, while you yourself have children, your reaction has to be completely different."][
For his efforts in saving Jewish workers, Beitz received Poland's highest civilian honor.][ In 1973, he was also honored by ]Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
, the Israeli Holocaust memorial, as a "Righteous Among the Nations", the organization's highest honor for non-Jews who saved Jews from the Holocaust.[ According to Yad Vashem, "The Jews that he rescued from deportation included many unqualified workers, often in poor physical condition, who could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as 'professionals' or indispensable to the oil industry."][
]
Post-war business career
After the war, Beitz became the head of Iduna, an insurance company. His innovative business methods and compensation brought him attention. In 1953, Alfried Krupp hired him to become chairman of the Krupp
The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
steel corporation. He remained with the company for 60 years and helped build it into a publicly traded conglomerate, merging the company in the 1990s to form ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and h ...
. Beitz has also been credited with helping to lead the re-industrialization of the Ruhr Valley
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
where Krupp's operations were based.[
After Alfried Krupp's death in 1967, Beitz served as executor and persuaded the Krupp heirs to establish a charitable foundation known as the ]Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation
__NOTOC__
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 ...
. The foundation still owns 25% of ThyssenKrupp.[ Beitz remained active in the foundation and led its effort to fund the creation of the ]Museum Folkwang
Museum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th- and 20th-century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patr ...
in Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
.[
From 1972 to 1988, Beitz was a member of the ]International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) and an honorary member until his death. From 1984 to 1988, he was an IOC vice president and executive board member.
In 2000, he received the Leo-Baeck Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Central Council of Jews in Germany
The Central Council of Jews in Germany (German name: Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) is a federation of German Jews. It was founded on 19 July 1950, as a response to the increasing isolation of German Jews by the international Jewish communi ...
.[
In July 2013, Beitz died at age 99 at his holiday home on the island of ]Sylt
Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...
off the northern coast of Germany. He is survived by his wife Else and three daughters.[ Following Beitz's death, ]Ronald Lauder
Ronald (Ron) Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist, art collector, and political activist. He is the president of the World Jewish Congress since 2007. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, ...
, president of the World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
, called Beitz "one of the great Germans of the past century".[
]
Honours
Source:[From the article in the German Wikipedia]
Decorations
*Commander with Star of the Order of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
(1974)
*Honorary Ring of the city of Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
(1983)
*Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 1 ...
(1986)
*Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
(1987; Grand Cross 2nd Class: 1979; Grand Officer's Cross: 1973; Commander's Cross: 1971)
*Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine States of Austria, states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, th ...
(1990)
*Order of Cultural Merit of the Republic of Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...
(2001)
*Order of Merit of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
The Order of Merit of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a civil Order (honour), order of merit, and the highest award of the Germany, German States of Germany, State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The ...
(2012)
Awards
*"Righteous Among the Nations" at Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
(Israel) for the help to persecuted Jews in the Nazi period (1973)
*Honorary doctorate from the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald
The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...
(1983)
*Honorary senator of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald (1991)
*Honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...
in Cracow (1993)
*Honorary citizen of the university and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (1995)
*Honorary doctorate from the Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...
(1996)
*Josef Neuberger Medal, together with his wife Else Beitz (1997)
*Honorary doctorate from the Ruhr University Bochum
The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
, because of his "ministry of science and education in the Ruhr area" (1999)
*Leo Baeck
Leo Baeck (23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi era ...
Prize of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, together with his wife Else Beitz (1999)
*Leibniz Medal of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin a ...
(2000)
*Honorary citizen of the city of Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
(2003)
*Honorary citizen of the city of Bochum
Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...
during the ceremony for the 40th birthday at the Ruhr University Bochum (2005)
*Honorary senator of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...
(since 2008, National Academy of Sciences) (2005)
*Honorary citizen of the city of Essen (single award since 1949) naming the new road through the former Krupp factory premises at the new ThyssenKrupp Headquarters as Berthold Beitz Boulevard (2007)
*Hall of Fame of German Sport (2008)
*The Chair for Human Rights at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
on the science campus of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald is named the Berthold Beitz place after the chairman of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach named Foundation, which promotes university and city for years (2008)
*Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...
Medal for the rescue of persecuted Jews (2010)
*Honorary senator of the College of Jewish Studies in Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
(2010)
*State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia with his wife Else Beitz (2011)
* Lew Kopelew Prize (2012)
*Emperor Leopold I Medal of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (2012)
*Honorary citizen of the University of Duisburg-Essen
The University of Duisburg-Essen (german: link=no, Universität Duisburg-Essen) is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded ...
*Honorary citizen of Gerlos
Gerlos is a Municipality (Austria), municipality with 793 inhabitants (as of Jan. 2019) in Schwaz (district), Schwaz district of the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol. The village is popular with skiing tourists, mainly families, as there is e ...
, Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
References
External links
Berthold Beitz
at Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beitz, Berthold
1913 births
2013 deaths
People from the Province of Pomerania
German industrialists
International Olympic Committee members
German Righteous Among the Nations
Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Nazi-era German officials who resisted the Holocaust