Arson Attack on Thyssenkrupp for the Transnational Days of Action Against Militarism and Nationalism (Berlin, Germany)

ThyssenKrupp enriches itself through war and genocide

Many are pissed off. Pissed off about the genocide in Gaza. About the bombs on civilians, schools and hospitals. About global military rearmament. About the bloodshed and displacement of millions of people. About the propaganda of “readiness for war” and of a Germany “capable of defending itself”. About arms supplies and the profits of the defense industry. About the project to reintroduce compulsory military service. About automated kills thanks to AI-controlled drone strikes.

Very, very pissed off.

This anger was unleashed yesterday.

Against the ThyssenKrupp war company.

Yesterday, three trucks and a warehouse were set on fire at ThyssenPlastics in Berlin.

Why ThyssenKrupp?

Through its subsidiary “ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS)”, Thysenkrupp earns billions from the construction of warships of all kinds. These include submarines, corvettes and frigates produced in Hamburg, Kiel and Emden. “Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is the only supplier of submarines in Germany.

TKMS has been producing Dolphin-class submarines for Israel since 1993. The submarines are equipped with nuclear-capable cruise missiles. In order to be able to launch cruise or ballistic missiles vertically, TKMS has developed the so-called VLS (Vertical Launching System) with which Israeli submarines of the Dolphin class are equipped. Their main area of operation is the Eastern Mediterranean. Here the “Dolphin” submarines built by TKMS constitute Israel’s nuclear second strike capability in the event of an attack.

In 2022, TKMS and Israel signed a new agreement for the production of “Dakar-class” submarines. The contract, worth around 3 billion euros, includes, in addition to the delivery of three submarines, also the installation of a simulator in Israel, logistical support and the supply of spare parts. ThyssenKrupp is investing 250 million euros in its shipyard. The shipyard includes, among other things, the construction of a new ship assembly hall and a plant for the production of fuel cells. Germany is incurring €540 million in costs and has also invested more than €850 million in Israeli companies, including in the military sector, as part of an industrial cooperation program. Charges of corruption have been brought against Netanyahu over the €3 billion deal as Netanyahu’s cousin and private legal adviser, David Schimron, also represented the Israeli proxy for Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems.

In May 2023, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Atlas Elektronik, a company of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, officially launched their latest joint development for anti-submarine missions. Atlas specializes in the development of AI-powered deep-sea sonar systems and is a company that develops and manufactures integrated sonar systems for submarines, mine search vessels, combat ships, and torpedoes; Israel Aerospace Industries is a wholly owned subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp AG. Israel Aerospace Industries is at the forefront of unmanned systems in the air, land and marine sectors. The world’s first unmanned underwater drone, “Blue Whale”, was developed by IAI for the Israel Defense Forces, and in recent decades, IAI has become a pioneer in the field of land-based robotic systems and unmanned vessels.

The genocide in Gaza shows the reality of AI-based military technologies: tens of thousands of civilians and children dead, injured, traumatized and maimed. ThyssenKrupp benefits from this genocide as well as from other wars.

“Once again we emphasize the urgent need to organize campaigns against the arms industry, war profiteers of all kinds, including those who supply the military machine with food, energy and any other resources. We must not forget the resistance against all national military apparatuses and multinational military coalitions. We must continue to fight against all nation states and all supranational political and economic unions and conglomerates, which demand our lives, our societies, the natural resources and the territories in which we live; against military mobilization and their industry that feeds on the wealth we produce; against the authorities that claim to rule in our name while protecting only capital and the ruling classes; and against everything that allows war to flourish. We recognize here the need to be present and active in a space of public discussion and in the spaces of the anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement in particular.

Beyond the walls of nationalism and war!

No border divides us, no nation unites us!

Stop the genocides in Gaza and everywhere!

Solidarity with all deserters!”

(Call for Transnational Days of Action Against Militarism and Nationalism from the Balkans (1 to 10 October 2024)