The owners of Krispy Kreme are taking accountability for the troubled past of their founders. The Reimann family is pledging more than $5 million to Holocaust survivors after it was discovered that the wealthy family has ties to Nazis and even partook in forced labor to grow their business empire.
The Reimann family discovered in March that their relatives, Albert Reimann Sr. and his son, Albert Reimann Jr., supported Hitler and used forced labor under the Nazis during World War II to help further their industrial chemicals company. Out of that company grew JAB, which now has controlling stakes in Krispy Kreme, Panera, and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, amongst others.
“To confront this was quite an emotional wake-up call for the family,” David Kamenetzky, board chairman of JAB, told the Associated Press.
As part of an $11 million commitment the family made to Holocaust survivors earlier this year, the Reimann family, which owns Krispy Kreme, has now made good on that promise by donating $5.5 million to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. From there, the funds will be distributed to the remaining elderly Holocaust survivors.
“Elderly, poor Holocaust survivors need food, medicine, and heat in the winter,” President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Julius Berman, said in a statement on Thursday. “These funds will enable thousands of survivors to live in dignity.”
