Hermann Josef Abs

Hermann Josef Abs was a German banker. He was a member of the board of directors of Deutsche Bank from 1938 to 1945, as well as of 44 other companies, including IG Farben. As the most powerful commercial banker of the Third Reich, he was, according to economic journalist Adam LeBor, "the lynchpin of the continent wide plunder". The Allies arrested him as a suspected war criminal on 16 January 1946, however British intervention got him freed after three months despite a detailed report that would be published later. After World War II (1957–1967) he was chairman of Deutsche Bank, and contributed to the reconstruction of the German economy.