jay_in_boston

A new message is circulating about the Leica Freedom Train. This message is a direct, word-for-word copy of some publicity text that is repeated verbatim on a number of internet sites, including Wikipedia. It is coming to the surface now because there is a film in the works (possibly for release soon) that dramatizes this story. However, there is debate about exactly how many Jews the Leitz family saved, especially "colleagues" external to the company, and more importantly Ernst Leitz II's' motives for sending Jewish employees to its foreign sales offices. An alternate description of this action suggests the following. It is well-known that Ernst Leitz II and his company collaborated with the Nazis in designing and developing advanced sight, targeting, and optical technology. And, it is conceivable that Leitz had no choice in doing so. On the other hand, perhaps in concert with these war efforts, Leitz elected to hide Jews from the Nazis for his own benefit. Firstly, many, maybe even most, of Leitz' executive, design, technical, and detail assembly personnel were Jewish. Secondly, these Jewish employees held (and invented), were privileged to, and/or were intimate with Leitz' intellectual property and industrial knowledge. In order to maintain ownership and control over his company's proprietary information, technical advancements, patents, and international leadership position within the industry, one can conjecture that Leitz protected these employees to maintain their loyalty. He certainly would want them to continue contributing to and making further improvements in Leica's products and simultaneously prevent them from spreading Leitz' technology to competitors. In other words, Ernst Leitz II may have had no choice but to protect and support his Jewish employees if he wished to ensure the survival and market position of his company, and implicitly his own wealth and power. There are obvious questions about whether Leitz II had a humanitarian mission as his guide. It's entirely possible that Leitz acted like any businessman who relied on highly skilled employees, many of whom happened to be Jewish in this particular industry. Today, it is difficult to evaluate if he adhered to any noble will or moral compass. The facts behind this story require further corroboration. I am skeptical of publicity. I always encourage people to carefully evaluate publicity. It often resembles propaganda and serves the interests of those who disseminate it, in this case the film industry. At the same time, I hope the story and statistics are entirely accurate. It is always inspiring and heart-warming to hear about real heros who take tremendous risk and defy authorities. If Leitz indeed saved his Jewish employees and other Jewish colleagues, friends, and acquaintances from the Nazis, he should be honored and remembered as a truly great man.