Klaus-Michael Kuehne is the richest man in Germany, heir to the freight-forwarding firm Kuehne + Nagel, which was cofounded by his grandfather and which he has stewarded for much of his life. A supporter of the centrist Christian Democratic Union (the party of the former chancellor Angela Merkel) and generous philanthropist, Kuehne lives the sort of life one expects from Europe’s super-rich: dividing his time among his estate near Lake Zurich, his chalet in the Swiss Alps, his yacht, and his villa in Mallorca. David De Jong takes a look at his company’s dark past, a story that begins in 1933, when Hitler took power:

In late April, the Kuehne brothers, [Klaus-Michael’s father and uncle], ousted their Jewish partner and co-owner Adolf Maass after he’d spent more than 30 years at the firm. Maass, fifty-seven at the time, owned 45 percent of the Hamburg branch of Kuehne + Nagel, which he had founded in 1902 and which was the largest and most profitable part of the firm. When Friedrich Nagel died heirless in 1907, his shares went to his cofounder, August Kuehne, the father of Alfred and Werner. He died in 1932.

According to a signed and dated contract in the Maass family archive in the Montreal Holocaust museum, Maass signed over his shares and claims to the Kuehne brothers on April 22, 1933, for no compensation. The reason? An alleged inability “to fulfill his capital obligations” to the Kuehnes and the company. Such accusations became a common method in Nazi Germany to oust Jewish shareholders from their own firms.

Nine days after ousting Maass, the Kuehne brothers became Nazi party members, according to their denazification files in the Bremen state archive. In the following years the Kuehnes developed their firm into a “national-socialist model company,” an honorary title that the Nazi regime awarded to Kuehne + Nagel in 1937, the year that Klaus-Michael was born.

During World War II, Kuehne + Nagel, led by Alfred and Werner, transported looted Jewish property, primarily furniture, books, and art, from occupied Western Europe to Nazi Germany.

Of course, almost all major German corporations participated in the enslavement, despoliation, and murder of the Jews—such is the nature of a totalitarian state engaged in such a massive project as the Holocaust. What is unique about Kuehne is that he hired historical investigators to research his firm’s wartime history, and then refused to publish the results.

Since the war began, there has been a tension between Israel’s two primary goals: the destruction of Hamas and the liberation of the hostages. Many see in Israel’s renewed campaign in Gaza a sacrifice of the latter goal in pursuit of the former. But Meir Ben-Shabbat suggests that Israel’s attacks aim to bring Hamas back to the negotiating table:

The timing of the attack, its intensity, and the extent of casualties surprised Hamas. Its senior leaders are likely still wondering whether this is a limited action meant to shock and send a message or the beginning of a sustained operation. The statement by its senior officials linking the renewal of fighting to the fate of the hostages hints at the way it may act to stop Israel. This threat requires the Israeli political leadership to formulate a series of draconian measures and declare that they will be carried out if Hamas harms the hostages.

Ostensibly, Israel’s interest in receiving the hostages and continuing the fighting stands in complete contradiction to that of Hamas, but in practice Hamas has flexibility that has not yet been exhausted. This stems from the large number of hostages in its possession, which allows it to realize additional deals for some of them, and this is what Israel has been aiming its efforts toward.

We must concede that the challenge Israel faces is not simple, but the alternative Hamas presents—surrendering to its dictates and leaving it as the central power factor in Gaza—limits its options. . . . Tightening and significantly hardening the blockade along with increasing pressure through airstrikes, evacuating areas and capturing them, may force Hamas to make its stance more flexible.

But Ben-Shabbat also acknowledges the danger in this approach. The war’s renewal puts the hostages in greater danger. And as Israel makes threats, it will be obliged to carry them out.