Editing Krispy Kreme (section)

=== Owner's use of forced labour in Nazi Germany ===

Owning the [[controlling stake]] in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as well as [[Insomnia Cookies]] and [[Pret A Manger]] (amongst other brands), one of the wealthiest families in Germany admitted in 2019 that they profited from [[forced labour]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="smithsonian">{{cite web |title=German Family That Owns Krispy Kreme Admits It Profited From Nazi Ties |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/german-family-owns-krispy-kreme-admits-it-profited-nazi-ties-180971806/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806200318/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/german-family-owns-krispy-kreme-admits-it-profited-nazi-ties-180971806/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[New York Times]] reported that the two men who ran the family business in the 1930s and 1940s - Albert Reimann Sr. and his son Albert Reimann Jr. - actively participated in the abuse of their workers.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |title=Germany's Second-Richest Family Discovers a Dark Nazi Past |work=The New York Times |date=March 25, 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/world/europe/nazi-laborers-jab-holding.html |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528013306/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/world/europe/nazi-laborers-jab-holding.html |url-status=live |last1=Bennhold |first1=Katrin }}</ref>

The German newspaper [[Bild]] originally published the story, based on an interim report by an economic historian at the University of Munich, Paul Erker - who was hired by the Reimann family to investigate their involvement with the [[Nazi Party]].<ref name="bild">{{cite web |title=33 Milliarden Euro reich: Die Nazi-Vergangenheit der Calgon-Familie |url=https://www.bild.de/bild-plus/politik/inland/politik-inland/33-milliarden-euro-reich-die-nazi-vergangenheit-der-calgon-familie-60835802,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html |website=Bild | date=March 26, 2019 |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825081245/https://www.bild.de/bild-plus/politik/inland/politik-inland/33-milliarden-euro-reich-die-nazi-vergangenheit-der-calgon-familie-60835802.bild.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The family's spokesman and a managing partner of [[JAB Holding Company]], which the Reimanns control - Peter Harf - told [[Deutsche Welle]], “Reimann Sr. and Reimann Jr. were guilty. The two businessmen have passed away, but they actually belonged in prison.”<ref name="dw">{{cite web |title=German billionaire family to donate $11M over Nazi past |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-billionaire-family-to-donate-11m-over-nazi-past/a-48047693 |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806200704/https://www.dw.com/en/german-billionaire-family-to-donate-11m-over-nazi-past/a-48047693 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Erker's report concluded that Reimann Sr. and Reimann Jr. were virulent anti-Semites and keenly supported the [[Nazi Party]], with Reimann Sr. donating to the [[SS]] in 1931, two years before [[Hitler]] was appointed chancellor of Germany.<ref name="dw" /> In addition to employing forced laborers in their private villa, their industrial chemicals factory in Germany employed forced laborers including Nazi-deportees from Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as [[prisoners of war]] from France.<ref name="smithsonian" /> A third of their workforce, around 175 forced workers, produced items for the German army, states the [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] news agency.<ref name="busstd">{{cite web |title=German billionaire family admits to Nazi past |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/german-billionaire-family-admits-to-nazi-past-119032400541_1.html |website=Business Standard |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806201303/https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/german-billionaire-family-admits-to-nazi-past-119032400541_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As reported by the [[New York Times]], workers were beaten, and women were made to stand naked, and if they refused were sexually assaulted.<ref name="nytimes" />

Director of the [[Leibniz Institute|Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History]], Andreas Wirsching, said that Reimann Sr. and Reimann Jr. were unusual in their direct participation in the abuse of workers. “It was very common for companies to use forced laborers—but it was not common for a company boss to be in direct and physical contact with these forced laborers,” Wirsching said.<ref name="nytimes" />

As reported by [[Deutsche Welle]], due to the successors' findings about their family's Nazi past, the Reimanns pledged to donate $11 million to institutions helping victims and families of [[forced labour]]ers.<ref name="dw" /> The report includes a statement from Harf to Bild saying “We were ashamed and white as sheets. There is nothing to gloss over. These crimes are disgusting.”<ref name="bild" /><ref name="irishtimes">{{cite news |title=The Nazi past of the people who bring you Krispy Kreme |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/manufacturing/the-nazi-past-of-the-people-who-bring-you-krispy-kreme-1.3928473 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806202940/https://www.irishtimes.com/business/manufacturing/the-nazi-past-of-the-people-who-bring-you-krispy-kreme-1.3928473 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[The Boston Globe]] published an article about it headlined, “I found out Nazi money is behind my favorite coffee. Should I keep drinking it?”<ref name="bostonglobe">{{cite web |title=I found out Nazi money is behind my favorite coffee. Should I keep drinking it? |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2019/06/04/peet-coffee-wake-call/XrJtIiY5MPYCycCGxglaSK/story.html |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825081246/https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2019/06/04/peet-coffee-wake-call/XrJtIiY5MPYCycCGxglaSK/story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>