Degussa

World War II and involvement in the Holocaust

During World War II, one of Degussa's (Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheide-Anstalt, "German Gold and Silver Refining") subsidiaries, Degesch (translation: German Corporation for Pest Control), was the main manufacturer and distributor of the chemical Zyklon B, which was used to murder people in gas chambers of German extermination and concentration camps during the Holocaust. Gold dental fillings, which had been forcefully removed from the mouths of concentration-camp inmates, were processed by Degussa. The company's partnership Deutsche Gasrusswerke (DGW) employed Jewish slave laborers at the Gleiwitz concentration camp, a subcamp of Auschwitz. Degussa estimated its war losses at 111 million Reichsmark, almost US$0.5 billion in 2012 dollars.

While constructing the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, it became public that the plasticizer and the anti-graffiti coating of the memorial were produced by Degussa, resulting in a pause of the construction works until the matter was clarified. In November 2003, the memorial's trustees decided to finish the building with the involvement of Degussa.

After World War II

In 2006, RAG acquired Degussa AG, which was later renamed Evonik-Degussa GmbH.

Historically, Evonik Industries' businesses were part of RAG activities. The idea of splitting the company was put forward in 2005. The background of this idea was that RAG's core business of coal mining is carried out under government contract in Germany, while businesses transferred to Evonik compete in international markets. This structure did not permit the payment of dividends to the shareholders, which limited shareholders' readiness to inject equity into the RAG, which thereby restricted the company's ability to access fresh capital. As the first step, RAG's shareholders sold their shares to RAG foundation (RAG-Stiftung) to split RAG.