Compilation of ancient film footage focussed on Sir Henry Deterding and the Royal Dutch Shell Group.
In the years leading up to WW2, Sir Henri, the Dutch founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, became an ardent Nazi. He financially backed the Third Reich and met directly with Hitler on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell.
As a major financial contributor to Nazi Germany in pre-WW2 years, the Royal Dutch Shell Group, under Dutch leadership, arguably had some indirect responsibility for the death toll in the subsequent war, in which sadly over 50 million people perished.
The copyright owner of the original film footage is unknown. It is evident from the narration that relevant filming took place between 1921 (nearly 100 years ago) and the mid 1930's, over 80 years ago.
The last 48 seconds of the compilation (from 8.54 onwards) is from the second instalment of an 8 part PBS TV series - “The Prize Part 2 - Empires of Oil” - adapted from Daniel Yergin’s 1992 book “The PRIZE: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power."
Close to the end of the film compilation (at 9.36) Sir Henri can be seen giving a Heil Hitler salute at a major sporting event for Shell employees invited to celebrate his birthday.
