In the course of addressing their joint history in the Third Reich, BMW and MTU are holding an international symposium on economic, social and engineering history under National Socialism including the culture of remembrance in the post-war period. The symposium is intended to provide academics with an opportunity to present and discuss their latest research results. The symposium is focused in particular on giving young academics an opportunity to enter into dialogue with established researchers.

The focus of the symposium is on the areas of
- Business history (armament, war economy, labour relations, forced labour),
- Technology development (industrial research, knowledge management, technological rationalization, culture of innovation),
- Culture of remembrance (addressing National Socialist history, compensation and reparations).
Alongside contributions on the Third Reich, presentations on the occupied territories are also welcome.
The symposium will finish with a plenary discussion on the subject of “Corporate action and ethical responsibility: a contradiction?" The symposium is intended for doctoral students, postgraduates and other academics who would like to present and discuss their current work or completed projects in one of the above fields of research (presentation time 25 min).

Travel and overnight accommodation costs for speakers will be reimbursed.

Academics interested in giving a paper are requested to submit an abstract (maximum 5,000 characters) and a short curriculum vitae by email to the three members of the academic council by 15 September 2006.

Andreas Heusler (andreas.heusler@muenchen.de)
Mark Spoerer (spoerer@uni-hohenheim.de)
Helmuth Trischler (h.trischler@deutsches-museum.de)

As the legal successor to BMW Flugmotorenbau GmbH Munich, MTU Aero Engines GmbH commissioned two historians in 1999 to carry out research into the history of forced labour at the plants of BMW Flugmotorenbau GmbH Munich during the Second World War. Since 2001, the BMW Group has been involved in this project. These research activities underline the commitment of both companies to engage with their history and take responsibility for what happened. In 2000, the companies – MTU through the then parent company Daimler-Chrysler AG – were already involved in compensating former forced workers as founding members of the German Economy Foundation Initiative Steering Group.

The first result of the investigations being pursued by the two companies was produced when the study by Constanze Werner “(Kriegswirtschaft und Zwangsarbeit bei BMW “(War economy and forced labour at BMW, Munich: Oldenbourg 2006) was recently published. A second study, focusing on the period between 1925 and 1939, is scheduled for publication in spring 2007. The two investigations address the issue of the scope for corporate action and the extent of state and military intervention in the company. This research situates BMW – which was in an exposed position as an armaments company – in a complex field of force involving the following issues: corporate interests, political accommodation and participation in criminal extermination policy of the Nazi regime. The symposium is intended to place the results of these studies in a wider context.