{"id":20588,"date":"2025-09-10T19:23:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T23:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/09\/10\/weleda-launches-inquiry-into-nazi-camp-skin-test-claims\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T19:23:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T23:23:11","slug":"weleda-launches-inquiry-into-nazi-camp-skin-test-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/09\/10\/weleda-launches-inquiry-into-nazi-camp-skin-test-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Weleda launches inquiry into Nazi camp skin test claims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n

Pritti Mistry<\/span>Business reporter<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Weleda, the natural cosmetics company, has launched a study into its links to a Nazi concentration camp following claims an anti-freeze cream it produced was tested on prisoners.<\/p>\n

A report by historian Anne Sudrow alleges that the Swiss company ordered raw materials from a garden in the Dachau camp. It also made a cream to protect against hypothermia which an SS doctor allegedly used in human experiments. <\/p>\n

Weleda said a separate report in 2023 found no evidence Dr Sigmund Rascher tested the cream on prisoners kept in freezing conditions for hours.<\/p>\n

The firm said it condemned the Nazi regime’s “atrocities” and acknowledged the new findings “may not have been fully explored in previous research”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dachau, near Munich, was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. <\/p>\n

It is thought about 200,000 people have been imprisoned there and more than 40,000 died there before its liberation in 1945. Some of those deaths have been attributed to medical experiments.<\/p>\n

In her book, commissioned by the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, Ms Sudrow outlines the relationship between Weleda and the SS – the Nazi Party’s elite force founded by Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n

The claims include Weleda being linked to experiments on up to 300 concentration camp prisoners between August 1942 and May 1943, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel.<\/p>\n

Weleda’s cream was intended to be used for treating hypothermia in German soldiers and Dr Rascher wanted to know whether the product could delay the medical condition in freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

During his tests up to 90 prisoners died when they were forced into ice baths, Der Spiegel reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 104-year-old company, which is known for its Skin Food range of skincare products, said it was committed to “transparently researching our history”.<\/p>\n

It expects the results of its new investigation, conducted by German body Society for Corporate History (GuG), to be published in early 2027.<\/p>\n

Tina M\u00fcller, chief executive of Weleda, said: “We condemn the atrocities of National Socialism in the strongest possible terms. <\/p>\n

“Fascism, anti-Semitism, racism, or right-wing extremist ideology have no place with us. ‘Never again’ expresses our stance. That’s why we are committed to a complete reappraisal of our history.”<\/p>\n

The company said it had given historians “full access to the company archives” to carry out its 2023 study into the company’s history. <\/p>\n

The same was also provided to Ms Sudrow for her work, including access to “administrative board minutes from the Nazi era”, Weleda added.<\/p>\n

Weleda admitted the GuG’s previous report, which was commissioned by the skincare brand and published last year, was “not yet designed to examine all detailed aspects”.<\/p>\n

The document outlined that Weleda requested plants from the Dachau camp garden – where prisoners worked – but were never delivered. <\/p>\n

It also stated Dr Rascher ordered 20kg of Weleda’s anti-freeze cream as part of his “cold experiments” but there was no evidence the company was informed it was used on concentration camp prisoners for those purposes. <\/p>\n

The company was founded in 1921 by the Austrian academic and philosopher Rudolf Steiner who established the anthroposophy doctrine, which – according to the Encyclopedia Britannica – is “philosophy based on the premise that the human intellect has the ability to contact spiritual worlds”.<\/p>\n

He also spearheaded the Steiner schools system and upon his death in 1925, left a vast body of work covering everything from homeopathy and biodynamic farming, to alternative medicine and the purpose of life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pritti MistryBusiness reporter Weleda, the natural cosmetics company, has launched a study into its links to a Nazi concentration camp following claims an anti-freeze cream it produced was tested on prisoners. A report by historian Anne Sudrow alleges that the Swiss company ordered raw materials from a garden in the Dachau camp. It also made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-market","category-news","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}