A correspondent in the middle east where he writes for the dutch Financial Daily among other publications. For the research and writing of nazi billionaires he reported from berlin for four years before that young was a reporter at Bloomberg News in new york where he wrote about hidden wealth and in amsterdam where he wrote about european banking and finance. His work has also appeared in the New York Times the wall street journal and Bloomberg Business week, deyoung was born and raised in amsterdam and currently lives in tel aviv, nazi. Errors is his first book and many of you probably saw his really fantastic hardhitting oped in the New York Times last week. So hopefully well have time to discuss that at well as well. So a word first about how things will work today. David will speak for about 40 minutes and then we will open it up to questions from the audience. Please submit your questions using the q a function at the bottom of your screen. We wont be able to see or hear you but you can submit questions at any time during the talk using the q a function and i will relay them to david. Um, so yeah. So without further ado, its really a great pleasure to to see david again who i got to know a little bit in berlin last year and really excited to hear more about this book, which ive just been reading and i have to say is just a agreed in addition to being about, you know, completely fascinating subject matter. Its its really well written. It reads like a novel so i highly recommend it to everyone. All right now i will hand it over to david. Thank you so much maury for that kind introduction. Um, i am going be talking about. The families in my book. I think the five families are right about in my book. Well, i think very much very well for their patriarchs at least. Very well, i represent this kind of, you know, german big business or at least an overview of german big business because these families were then and are still today. Germanys most prominent business dynasties and and i want to start it off with im gonna try try and condense a century. And from 1919 to 2019 in about 40 minutes, so ill be zigzagging through to five families, but ill start off with the main family the quantity dynasty whose heirs today control control bmw at least two of the errors. Its still germanys wealthiest family today. And their patriarch interquarters loses his wife antonia in the spanish flu of 1918 and in the fall of apartment in the spring of 1919. He takes a nitrine from berlin to castle in the center of germany germany and he meets a well acknowledge, shes not even a woman yet. Shes a girl a 17 year old girl. Called magda friedlander. Not just friedlander who just came out of a relationship with a jewish student named alausorov who later becomes a very wellknown zionist in israel and his and his shot dead on a very mysterious circumstances in 1933 on the beach of tel aviv. She comes out of relationship with with with our laws of when takes at night train. In easter in the easter weekend of 1919 and she meets greener quote. Magda friedlander is the her stepfather is jewish. Shes taking on his last name. He shot friedlander. But she was baptized catholic and race catholic. And she meets contr and they go and they and good one whos 20 years older than she is is completely enamored with her and when marketer gets out at her stop in central germany and goes to the boarding school where she is, you know, he finds her address and he writes to her that very night when he arrives at his destination. And he takes her out on a date and within three days he proposes to her. And gunter has two sons from from his first marriage and he proposed to her and she after long considered her after. Yeah, some consideration. She says yes. And they got married. Or she says yes, and they get engaged. Now however to get married he has one condition has one condition or two condition that she reconverts from catholicism. Back to protestantism which is his lutheran. And secondly that she drops the name friedland friedlander before she gets married and that she reassumes her her birth name rachel, which was her biological fathers name because you know. Of course from his perspective. You know, he could never get married one could never get married to a woman who holds a jewish last name . And i think that is very much that episode where the book start where my book starts with. Its very much emblematic for the thinking of the families or at least the patriarchs of the families. Im writing about this this latent antisemitism as opposed to the really racial antisemitism is convinced antisemitism these men i write about are not they are not convinced antisemites. They are. You know for the most part protestants who you know very much in lutheran theology, you know is is is you know, if for my view deeply antisemitic also many voters who voted in the nazi party. There was a far far higher votes for the nsfa into more protestant parts of germany who saw hitler really as a sort of reincarnation to many of Martin Luther so it is really this this latent antisemitism that is that is prevalent. Not only in a circles of big business, but i would say unfortunately for the most part of of christian German Society both protestant and catholic at that time now going to quant. Was already from a very wealthy family a textile family. Builds up this empire during the era of hyperinflation. As does his well fellow industrious Friedrich Flick who ends up being probably germanys most notorious in this industrious of the 20th century and was eventually convicted the only one of my main characters was eventually convicted a nuremberg for crime for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The two of them separately start very much profiting from from the hype the era of hyperinflation. In the 1920s gunter quant and manages through through hyperinflation, which wiped out most of the middle classes, but for the speculators of the time the stock speculators of the time was a very profitable error managed to take control of a global battery factory afa and a global or a weapons factory or weapons firm called dwm. And that is really the groundwork of the quant business and buyer that they see that they very much profit from from after a hitler sees power in 1933. Now as for free to flick she parlays a Steel Company that he controls into a steel conglomerate. He takes over the united steelworks during the during the hyperinflation era. And it is very interesting to see how virulent and he saysemitism is already leveled against the kind of the jewish speculators of the great jewish speculator of that that era in germany. Where there is this idea of you know, theyre just speculating their their their you know, accumulating stocks and their accumulating controlling interests in in companies, you know across across the board of the business spectrum from from industry to to to textiles to battery to weapons. But these these the same accusations, you know, which you still see today leveled against george soros or the conspiracy theorists to you know, you dont see them levels against future quantum and Friedrich Flick being, you know, protestant parts of the german establishment. Now i want to go to to 1933 and and hit the seizing power in germany. Quickly codifying of antisemitic laws in in germany. You see quickly see domain. Well characters in my taking advantage of it. And interquant and gets briefly detained because at this point in time is his marriage to to magda qant is has dissolved and magdaquand has on to become markdock googles. She divorces a good requirement in 1929 and soon meets. Joseph gobbles. Whos then the right . Yeah, he likes propaganda lighter for for berlin and is you know up and coming in the den still bargaining nazi party and they soon become the you know to kind of the the most Prominent Third reich. And a custody battle ensues good your qantas to sons from his first marriage herbert and how much . And to and and has one son together with magda called. How cold how old . And it custody battle about how old ensues and he is arrested. Which she later prepared is on googles orders. Hes arrested on may 4th 1933 three days after greetric ones becomes a member of the nazi party. We spent six weeks in. In custody and then as soon as he gets out, and he first has to go into house arrest he starts firing. You know the the jewish members of a supervisory boards and executive boards, we start to removing them from from his from his company boards. And even though he says you know the bear he later prefers himself to be a victim of goggles and a victim of the nazi regime and as an opponent even though he becomes one of the third drugs largest profiteers and she you know take it quickly takes advantage of Business Partner partners that he had was a banker named jacob goldsmith. Which both heated rich flick and and winter quant did a lot of business with and was served on on their company boards. He is above quant and flick is swiftly removed from from his boards from that boards, and you know is forced to see nazi germany and that is again emblematic also of the thinking of these men day. They are not convinced antisemites, but they are they are willing to play along with the richie with with the nazi regime as long as it benefits their companies therefore tunes and you know, they will not do anything that goes against the rules by you know, going the extra mile. To save their jewish colleagues or employees from persecution now following the the implementation of the nuremberg race laws in the mid september 1935. Where of course a disenfranchisement of jewish citizens in nazi germany really ramps up you see this concept of area which later became known as arianization really enter into the discourse for german businessmen. And the conservarianization was this idea of the removal . Of of the jewish element from the ownership of an asset whether that was a jewish owned Company Shares jewelry art real estate. Thats where it starts and of course initially these transactions still have the veneer of a regular business transaction between i would say 1935 to 1937. But they very soon afterwards become the outright expropriation and appropriation by the nazi regime as well as the businessman. Im writing about. I mean i give countless examples in my book of arianization, but i will give several and the most prominent one i want to start with is the removal of out of rosenberger the cofounder of porsche of Divorce Company by his two or the buyout is the is the correct is the correct term of out of rosenberg by his two portion company cofounders. Anton pierre and very unposher they the three of them start the car Design Company in 1930. In in stuttgart and they you know on the day that that out of rosenberger resigns in january 1933 30 june 30th of january 1933 is also today that out of hitler sees his power in germany. He resigns frozen bagger because he is fed up. With being hes a commercial director of porsche and hes fed up with you know, being the financial backer of the force company, which is blowing through money on the expensive designs of ferd and abortion of mercurial guard designer and and which company you know, its Namesake Company out of rosemary 10 of the shares. He stays on out of rosenberger as a for shareholder until july 1935 when hes bought out. Of the portion company at the nominal value of a shares, which was 3,000 rice mark. Now at this point in time, very important has convinced has convinced hitler to put his design the volkswagen into production. While the portia company was virgin on bankruptcy of on january 30th 1933 by the time july 1935 comes around it is a very profitable company. However out of rosenberger is bought out for the nominal value of his shares and 3,000 guy smart which is far below the market value of his actual shares and that is again, and that is a stereotypical form of arianization the way these transactions were conducted. They wanted to remove. A peer and porsche wanted to remove and out of rosenberger as a shareholder which out of rosenberg later contents is because they wanted to have a classification as a company which was free of and you know out of rosenberger is is ready to leave germany. Actually, is then soon after he gets bought out of porsche. Detained in a concentration camp on the charge of racial defilement. And is helped by his successor as commercial director helps him to to be freed from the construction camp porsche mps. Dont do anything to help their cofounder out and later a whole legal battle ensues. And the other families in my book quant as well. Greater great greatly profits from from arianization. He acquires the companys of equal several Battery Companies owned by german far below the market value of of their shares every day flick actually becomes the largest profiteer of at least largest privately. Of the private businessman it becomes larger profiteer of arianization. It takes over the massive pet check brown core conglomerates in central, germany. In one for six Million Dollars also far below the market value of the shares of one branch of the pet check dynasty and the other one is outright expropriated by by the nazi regime and he and a ends up in a asset swap with those brown goal assets as well. Another the four family. I write about in the book. Its i was from think and i was from think right about both senior and junior they are is a cofounding financiers family of aliens and munich real. Um today two of the large two of the Worlds Largest insurers and reinsurers. And i was one thing senior. His father cofounded aliens in munichry his father dies when hes 25 and he inherits these, you know, the largest stakes in these Insurance Companies as well as a controlling stake in the in the Family Private families private bank mark fink. And hitler asked him in 1933 because hes you know as nazi officials call him. Bavarias wealthiest and and stingiest man. He asks him if one thing can fundraise as he refuses to spend any money of himself. On if you can fundraise for the house of german art, which is a which is hitlers pet project a new museum on the southern border of the of the english garden in munich. And from being readily says yes and is is happy to to and ends up fundraising 20 million high smart from his fellow tycoons and and financiers for the building of affordability of that museum which today is still very prominent building in in munich and as a thank you for his successful fundraising efforts. Von fink is rewarded reward it by area by being allowed to arianize the rothschild bank, which is the austrian brands, which is austrias Largest Private Bank and the Austrian Branch of the rothschilds family, and hes also allowed to arianize in berlin the dry fruits bank branch. And he does so he first does so by the museum of his in 1937. And he uses also, you know the code of the the laws of nazi germany in a way also of attacking. Not only of arianizing these private banks which you know expands his Business Empire significantly. But also by attacking his his fellow private bankers. Which was greatly dominated by you know, there were a lot of bad private banks at the time owned by many who had been around for generations. He uses it. He utilizes the entire antisemitism in variative in vigorously attacking fellow private bankers, and so successfully that you know his attacks and then his subsequent erinizations. Cause a kind of a bank run on on other jewish private banks and it is, you know, it becomes conforms kind of the blueprint. Ive already as i called it. Dejueification of germanys private of the german Private Banking system and i was from think becomes large profiteer in nancy germany of Private Banking are organizations. The last example i want to provide of the families that i write about is the utica kazolovsky family richard haselowski is the ceo of dr. Edgar a large baking goods conglomerates. Who steps on who is mentoring his stepson rid of our researcher . To take over a ceo of the dr. Utskar putting empire. This is mainly a europeanbased conglomerate still today very well known for its frozen pizzas, and its putting mixes. And he just because a love ski is actually one of the few men who is like an ideological national socialist. He is really convinced. Hes a convinced that see the other examples that i gave of the other industrialist and financiers. Are for the most part . Yeah, our opportunists who . You know leverage and disemitism and and and and the laws of nazi germany to their business advantage. Whereas future carsolovski is such a convinced National Search that he actually its through the detriment of dr. Edgars business because they own for instance. They own not only a big goods company, but also own a Publishing Company and they merge a or on kazolovskis instigation. They merge a a very highly profitable newspaper that they have with a nazi publication. It is bleeding. Money and his steps are good of august urger who ends up voluntarily applying and joining the buffon ss at one point. He goes to hamburg. Hes eighties 21 years old in 1937, and he acquires the house of a of a jewish executive who had to to australia. And its actually the only time in the book where somebody where casalovski warns his step his stepson. Who he mentors he says. Be be aware the to this house steer stick to this house. I mean in the book. And it is it is quite confounding that the only kind of sense of remorse or a sense of forewarning. In the context of an arianization, i found was of somebody who was an ideological nazi. He wasnt so much again. He wasnt he was also a latent. Yeah. He used the word late and i antisemitage. He was not a racial antisemite kazelowski also had many jewish Business Partners who of course, hes swiftly got ties with following 1933. Um, but it is the only interest i came across during my research and that of the one ideological nazi where he warns his stepson of what he is about to do with the organization that you know of the moral implications that there are of course his stepson a bit of our researcher. We became one of germanys most prominent most war industries. Structures of and and buys the house of the flood. Tobacco executive far under m