Lufthansa Confronts Nazi Past: Forced Labor & Wartime Role Revealed

Frankfurt, Germany – February 4, 2026 – Lufthansa, Germany’s flag carrier airline, is undertaking a comprehensive reassessment of its history, acknowledging its deep entanglement with the Nazi regime as it approaches its centenary. The move marks a significant departure from decades of attempts to distance the company from its past, and comes as a result of renewed scrutiny and a commitment to greater transparency.

For years, Lufthansa maintained a legal and organizational separation between Deutsche Luft Hansa, the airline founded in 1926, and the post-war Lufthansa AG established in 1953. This distinction was often invoked for reasons of reputation and liability. However, CEO Carsten Spohr stated, “We at Lufthansa are proud of what we are today. To then ignore the difficult, dark, terrible years would simply have been dishonest.”

The shift in approach is being accompanied by the publication of a new historical analysis, commissioned from historians Hartmut Berghoff, Manfred Grieger, and Jörg Lesczenski. The book will be distributed to the airline’s more than 100,000 employees, and an exhibition detailing the company’s evolution during the Nazi era will open at its new visitor center. This follows more than 25 years of prior research into the company’s past, the findings of which were previously not fully acknowledged.

According to historian Manfred Grieger, Lufthansa was not merely present during the Nazi period, but actively aligned itself with the regime beginning in 1933. The airline transitioned from a civilian aviation company to a crucial component of the Nazi war machine. “Lufthansa was a company of National Socialism,” Grieger stated, adding that this “symbiosis led to Lufthansa’s downfall at the end of the world war.”

The integration was swift and comprehensive. Board and supervisory board members joined the Nazi Party as early as 1930. Deutsche Luft Hansa became a state-subsidized airline, and subsequently played a vital role in the rearmament efforts, operating as a “clandestine air force.” The company transported government officials and became deeply involved in arms production for the Luftwaffe, Germany’s air force.

By 1944, armaments contracts accounted for over two-thirds of Lufthansa’s total revenue. To fulfill these contracts, the company relied on the forced labor of more than 10,000 individuals, including deported Ukrainians and German Jews. Historian Grieger noted the disturbing lack of scrutiny applied to the fate of these laborers, stating, “No questions were asked when these people were taken to the gas chambers. They were Berlin Jews with whom they could communicate. This proves hard to understand.”

The formal structure of the original Lufthansa ceased to exist in 1946 with its liquidation by the Allied forces, though the rights to the name, the distinctive crane symbol, and the color scheme were preserved. Despite this formal dissolution, Spohr believes that a thorough examination of the past is essential as the company celebrates its centenary. He acknowledged that previous historical accounts of both the original and subsequent Lufthansa had not “sufficiently” addressed this dark chapter.

The current Deutsche Lufthansa AG is not legally considered the successor to Deutsche Luft Hansa AG. However, the airline’s decision to confront its past reflects a broader trend, albeit a limited one, within German companies. According to a study by the Business History Society, fewer than 8% of German companies have undertaken professional analyses of their roles under the Nazi regime.

Lufthansa’s acknowledgement of its Nazi-era history comes at a time of increasing sensitivity surrounding historical memory in Germany and Austria, as noted in recent reporting. The airline’s move is likely to be closely watched by other German corporations and may encourage further scrutiny of their own pasts. The company’s willingness to address this difficult period is being presented as a step towards greater corporate responsibility and a commitment to transparency.