Bruno Tesch was tried and executed because his company sold Zyklon B gas, which was used in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. This book examines his trial and more than 300 other economic actors who faced prosecution for crimes against humanity committed during the Holocaust. At the same time, it compiles and analyzes various transitional justice mechanisms that enabled accountability for economic actors involved in human rights violations during dictatorships and armed conflicts around the world. It examines international, foreign, and domestic trials, as well as truth commissions, from the 1970s to the present across all world regions.
The book explores accountability efforts—why they happen, when, where, and how they unfold. The analysis is based on the authors’ original database, which allows them to conclude that “accountability from below” is on the rise, particularly in Latin America. The text uses the analogy of Archimedes’ lever to illustrate how the right tools, in the hands of the weak, can lift the weight of impunity and achieve accountability for corporate complicity—even when there is no international pressure to pave the way, and despite some economic actors using their veto power to block attempts to end impunity.
Contact us
