Samenvatting

In this article, theories on organisational crime are applied to the involvement of the German corporation Topf & Söhne in the Holocaust. This corporation produced ovens for various concentration and destruction camps in Germany and Poland and contributed significantly to the execution of the Holocaust with their innovative products. The motivation to procure these ovens to the SS does not seem to stem from force, ideological agreement or maximisation of profit. Instead loss-minimisation and a ‘culture of perfection’ seem to form the explanation. Opportunity was provided by the Nazi-Germany regime and the knowledge and skills were already at hand within the organisation. Because of the close collaboration between these two parties, this case can be qualified as a form of state-corporate crime. Administrative, political and social control was absent and neutralisations only seem to have been formed after the Holocaust. The analysis shows how theories about ‘regular’ organisational criminality can form an explanation of the involvement of corporations in international crimes.