The German economy is taking a position: In a full-page newspaper advertisement with the headline “Never again is now”, which appears this Sunday in the Springer newspapers “Bild am Sonntag” and “Welt am Sonntag”, more than 100 named companies have expressly opposed it antisemitism and hatred of Jews.
It literally says: “We all condemn Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel . And we see with horror the suffering of civilians in Israel and Gaza. As a German company, we stand against all forms of hatred and antisemitism.” And further: “We are aware of our historical responsibility. We therefore ask everyone to join us in solidarity with our fellow Jewish citizens in our companies and in our country. There should be no place for hatred of Jews in Germany. Never again is the obligation of each individual. Never again is now.”
The 106 signatory companies include Porsche, VW, BMW, Audi, Bosch, Allianz, BASF, Lufthansa, SAP, Deutsche Bahn, Bertelsmann, Hubert Burda Medien, Henkel, Siemens, Otto, Hugo Boss, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and the Savings Banks Financial Group. Also Trumpf, LBBW, Mahle and the Schwäbisch Hall building society.
Unlike Daimler Truck, Mercedes-Benz is not represented in the ad. When asked, company spokesman Tobias Just explained: “The simple truth is: we were just a little too late. When we were contacted about the campaign at the beginning of last week, we were initially busy getting our fundraising campaign off the ground.” According to CEO Ola Källenius, “this is a donation of one million euros to the aid organization United Hatzalah for the procurement of rescue vehicles and to the German Red Cross, which organizes humanitarian aid locally in cooperation with its sister societies.”
The company spokesman explained that when they spoke to Springer Verlag again at the end of last week about participating in the advertisement, the pressure had already started. He emphasized: “We support the text and the message either way.”
