Company Outlines Role in Nazi Looting

Degussa, one of the world’s largest metals firms, acknowledged that it had melted down gold and silver taken from Holocaust victims. “During National Socialist [Nazi] times, Jewish citizens in Germany and in neighboring occupied countries were forced to give up gold, silver and other precious metals,” Degussa said in a statement. “Most of the materials . . . were refined at Degussa.” Degussa is the latest in a growing list of German companies taking a fresh look at the role they played in Nazi atrocities. The statement said that, in an effort to compensate for its past, the firm has been a major supporter of numerous Jewish institutions in Israel, the United States and Germany.