Photo by Soeren Stache/dpa via AP

Photo by Soeren Stache/dpa via AP

After an internal investigation revealed his company’s historic ties to Nazi Germany, JAB Holdings’ managing partner Peter Harf (MBA 1974) announced that the company intends to donate 10 million euros to a yet-to-be-determined charity.

The research found that, in addition to their “enthusiastic support of Adolf Hitler,” the family-run company’s previous heads, Albert Reimann Sr. and Albert Reimann Jr., “used Russian civilians and French POWs as forced laborers,” according to an Associated Press report. Today, JAB Holding is one of Germany’s largest conglomerates, with controlling interests in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Panera Bread, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, cosmetics giant Coty, and other consumer brands. Peter Harf was a 2011 recipient of HBS’s Alumni Achievement Award.

Harf told the AP that when he and the current Reimann family members heard the extent of the involvement, “we were all ashamed and turned as white as the wall. …There is nothing to gloss over. These crimes are disgusting.” Harf also told the Agence France-Presse that the family plans to take the findings of the investigation public when it is complete. “Reimann Sr. and Reimann Jr. were guilty,” Harf told the New York Times. “They belonged in jail.”

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