SELECTION OF WEBPAGE HEADER IMAGES ALL FROM WEBSITES OPERATED BY JOHN DONOVAN, ALL FOCUSSED ON ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Header images on royaldutchshellplc.com

Header images on royaldutchshellgroup.com

Who Killed Henry?: The book title arises from the fact that in 1937, Shell Director for Europe Henry van der Waerden was found dead in mysterious circumstances after receiving a threat from members of the Nazi movement. This was after he had failed to respond favourably to intense pressure from Deterding and the Nazis to do their bidding.

By John Donovan

I was recently contacted by Henry van Buuren, the grandson of Henry van der Waerden, an engineer who held a high-level position at Shell under Sir Henri Deterding. read more

Royal Dutch Shell should apologise for antisemitic conduct and Nazi support

By John Donovan

I strongly believe that Royal Dutch Shell should be held accountable for its outrageous antisemitic actions against its own employees, which cost some of them their lives. The same applies to Shell’s huge financial support for Nazi Germany that contributed to the deaths of some 50 million victims in WW2 including those poor souls who perished in the Holocaust. Shell’s leader, Sir Henri Deterding, was an ardent Nazi feted by Adolf Hitler. Shell has never apologised or expressed any remorse.  read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Index of Shell leadership financial support for the Nazis

Dutch cartoons provide evidence of a perception in pre-WW2 years that Sir Henri Deterding was a major financier of Hitler’s Nazi regime. Identified by name in both cartoons, Deterding is depicted handing over a bag of money to the Nazis containing a large sum – 1000 000 00 – in unspecified currency: see enlargements 1 and 2. Overwhelming evidence confirms that the perception was well founded.

INDEX IN DATE ORDER

Extracts from relevant news reports and books, many authored before WW2, are listed in date order, providing compelling evidence of what transpired all those years ago. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 14: Control of Royal Dutch Shell companies in Nazi-occupied Europe

Hauptmann Eckhardt von Klass

Hauptmann Eckhardt von Klass (seated)

The Nazis presented considerable challenges to Royal Dutch Shell over control of its subsidiaries in occupied countries. The above caricature (and seated Nazi officer) is a former Shell director, Hauptmann Eckhardt von Klass, the Verwalter (administrator) appointed by the Nazis to “exercise supervision over Group companies in occupied Europe.” See pages 80 and 81 from RDSH V2.

Before, during, and after World War 2, Royal Dutch Shell was the owner of companies located in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe, including Rhenania-Ossag. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 11: Shell collaborated in the Nazi annexation of Austria and occupation of Czechoslovakia

German forces entered Vienna on 17 March 1938 (above). The Nazis annexed Austria in what became known as the Anschluss and occupied Czechoslovakia a year later. Royal Dutch Shell authorized its German subsidiary Rhenania-Ossag, to take over Shell operating companies in both countries.

Being one of the two biggest German oil concerns and the main lube oil manufacturer, Shell subsidiary Rhenania-Ossag was an industry leader in Nazi Germany. Many of its directors and staff were Nazis.

Following Hitler’s annexation of Austria on 12 March 1938 (photo) and the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Dutch directors of Royal Dutch gave approval to Rhenania-Ossag taking over the Shell operating companies in those countries. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 13: Royal Dutch Shell and Nazi slavelabor

The photograph shows military uniforms worn by marching employees of the Shell German subsidiary, Rhenania-Ossag. A photograph on the next page shows swastika flags on display during a staff meeting. Rhenania-Ossag was part and parcel of the Nazi movement when the Shell Group was in undisputed full control of the company.  A senior director was involved in Nazi military planning.

In 1935, Rhenania-Ossag (owned by Royal Dutch Shell) was Germany’s second-largest gas station company, with 16,363 petrol pumps and several refineries. There were active Nazi members in the workforce and management. It’s DG, Dr. Erich Boeder, was involved in Nazi military planning (oil production) on behalf of the company. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 10: Shell support for the Nazis continued after the retirement of Sir Henri as leader

The above photograph is of Sir Henri Deterding around the time of his retirement as absolute leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, standing alongside his third wife, a thirty-eight-year-old German-born ardent Nazi, Charlotte Knaack. Her admiration for the Nazis probably strengthened his views, and no doubt played a part in the decision to move their home to Germany.

In October 1936, the first news reports of the pending resignation of Sir Henri Deterding as the leader of Royal Dutch Shell Group were published. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 5: Great friend of the Germans

This chapter deals with the role of Royal Dutch Shell as a contributor to the economy of Nazi Germany and financier of the Third Reich via its long-time Director General, Sir Henri Deterding.  The funding was of a scale that led to Hitler paying homage to him as a great friend of the Germans. Sir Henri actively supported the rearmament of Nazi Germany. He was a generous friend that the Nazis tried to exploit even after his death.

Any major company in existence for over 100 years is bound to have some skeletons in the closet. In the case of Royal Dutch Shell, it arguably includes indirect responsibility for millions of deaths. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 5: The Nazi Funeral of Royal Dutch Shell Leader Sir Henri Deterding

On 10 February 1939, a burial ceremony with many of the trappings of a state funeral was held at a private estate near Berlin. The spectacle included a funeral procession led by a horse-drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and Shell directors in attendance. An indication of the high esteem in which Sir Henri Deterding was held by his Shell colleagues and by Adolf Hitler, who sent a wreath.

Sir Henri Deterding, a foreign national, was honored with what amounted to a state funeral in Germany, where he was buried. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 4: Media coverage of Sir Henri Deterding’s Death

Sir Henri Deterding died in St. Moritz, Switzerland on 4 February 1939 several months before the outbreak of the 2nd World War. As could be expected given his global fame as an oil mogul and a man of wealth, mystery and intrigue, there were numerous newspaper obituaries from around the world. Many mentioned his financial support for Hitler and the Nazi movement in Germany.

It might seem odd to focus at this early stage on the death of Sir Henri Deterding, but the global news coverage of his death and even more significantly, the location – Nazi Germany – of his extraordinary funeral, speak volumes. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 3: Royal Dutch Shell and the Nazis

In the years just before WW2, a number of Dutch top executives at Royal Dutch Shell let their principles be corrupted by the Third Reich.

All became Nazi appeasers while engaging in activities that financially benefitted Nazi Germany and Shell.

They included at least five Dutch Group Managing Directors of Royal Dutch Shell.

Namely, Sir Henri Deterding, J.E.F. de Kok (who became Deterding’s successor as Director General), Jean Baptiste August “Guus” Kessler Jr., (another subsequent Shell DG), James M de Booy and J.C. Baron van Eck. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

The ebook can be purchased via Amazon websites around the world. Chapter headings are listed below. The introduction and some sample Chapters are accessible via the hyperlinks provided.

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTERS

1. The best historians Shell could buy
2. News story February 2015: Shell ship named after a Nazi SS Officer
3. Royal Dutch Shell and the Nazis
4. Media coverage of Sir Henri Deterding’s Death
5. The Nazi Funeral of Royal Dutch Shell leader Sir Henri Deterding
6. Great friend of the Germans
7. You Can Be Sure of Shell
8. Royal Dutch Shell Anti-Semitism
9. Deterding’s support for Nazi Stormtroopers
10. Shell support for the Nazis continued after the retirement of Sir Henri as leader
11. Shell collaborated in the Nazi annexation of Austria and occupation of Czechoslovakia
12. Shell’s notorious business partner: IG Farben
13. Royal Dutch Shell and Nazi slave labor
14. Control of Royal Dutch Shell companies in Nazi-occupied Europe
15. Nazi connections relating to Shell
16. Shell historians attempt to distance Deterding from Hitler
17. Why does it still matter?
18. Time for a rare public apology from Shell?
19. Key Dates
20. Shell cloak and dagger activities
21. Wikipedia: The sanitization of Shell’s history
22. Authors unique connection with Shell

Index of Shell leadership financial support for the Nazis

©Copyright © 2016 by John Donovan

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author, except for the use of brief Extracts. The Book is published for educational and research purposes. read more

EMAIL FROM JOHN DONOVAN TO SHELL: 15 SEPT 2016

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>

Subject: STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL?

Date: 15 September 2016 at 12:51:41 BST

To: [email protected]m

Cc: Michiel Brandjes <[email protected]>

To Mr. Gary P. Thomson SI-LSC/KCompany Secretarial Advisor 

Corporate Secretariat 

London 

Dear Mr. Thomson

Thank you for your email dated 26 July 2016 and your subsequent letter dated 30 August 2016, the content of both stated by you to be “Strictly private and confidential”.

An attachment was marked as being “Confidential”. read more

LINK TO ARTICLE

JOHN DONOVAN SAR APPLICATION LETTER TO SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998

19 July 2016

Mr. Gary Thomson SI-LSC/K
Shell International Limited
40 Bank Street
London E14 5NR

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 – Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your email dated 19 July 2016.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with a postal order for £10 made out to Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

I obtained it before finding out that the fee can now instead be paid to a charity.

As you are aware, I operate royaldutchshellplc.com – a website focussed on the activities of Shell. read more

By John Donovan

It’s interesting to note that there seem to be parallels between Siemens (mired in the Panama Papers scandal) and Shell.

A few years ago, Siemens was prosecuted for bribery, and some of their senior employees were jailed. It was suspected that some of the funds provided by Siemens for the bribes were kept by the Siemens executives involved, but lack of evidence prevented the executives involved from being prosecuted. 

The amounts involved in the Siemens cases were tiny in comparison with Shell’s OPL 245 payments, but were funnelled through Mossack Fonseca.  read more

Extract from the Kindle Edition of my ebook: Sir Henri Deterding and the Nazi History of Royal Dutch Shell

Now available to purchase on Amazon.com; Amazon.co.uk; Amazon.de;

And around the world including: Amazon.nl: Amazon.fr; Amazon.es; Amazon.it; Amazon.ca; Amazon.com.au;

As stated in the ebook, in July 2015, an investigator visited me seeking advice and information in connection with the OPL 245 scandal. I was pleased to assist.

FROM PAGES 165 & 166 under the heading: Shell Corruption, Spying, and Pollution in Nigeria

In the 1990’s Shell had a close relationship with the corrupt Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha, during Shell’s plunder and pollution of the Niger Delta. The corruption continued in more recent times. In November 2010, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced settlements with freight forwarding company Panalpina, Inc. and six other companies in the oil services industry that violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Royal Dutch Shell was one of the companies. Shell agreed to a cease-and-desist order to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest of over $18 million plus a criminal fine of $30 million. read more

A team of historians, all associated with Utrecht University was hired by Shell to author “A History of Royal Dutch Shell,” a four-volume work published in 2007. 

Seems reasonable to conclude that the University and those associated with it, including the hired historians, would not wish to upset such an important benefactor/partner. 

That may explain the spin when they dealt with a particularly sensitive chapter in Shell’s past – its direct dealings with Hitler and the Nazis.  read more

PROOF IS PROVIDED IN THE BOOK THAT THE NAZIS ATTEMPTED TO SEIZE CONTROL OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL. I HAVE THE PERMISSION OF THE UK NATIONAL ARCHIVE TO PUBLISH THE EVIDENCE.

By John Donovan

In a matter of days, I will be publishing an e-book entitled “Sir Henri Deterding and the Nazi History of Royal Dutch Shell.”

Publication is timed to coincide with another momentous episode in the history of Royal Dutch Shell –  the vote on the Shell BG Group merger.

SUMMARY OF MAIN CONTENT

In the years leading up to WW2, the Dutch founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, Sir Henri Deterding became an ardent Nazi. He financially backed the Third Reich and met directly with Hitler on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell. read more

English translation below of the text shown on the centre section of the above German road map published by Shell in Nazi Germany after Hitler came to power in January 1933. Shell boasted about its contribution to the German economy stretching back to 1924. We assume the map provided directions to the Polish border.

In the years approaching WW2, the ardent Nazi, Sir Henri Deterding, was in control at Shell along with likeminded Group Managing Directors (two of whom subsequently became Director Generals of Shell), all willing to get into bed with the Nazis. read more

Worlds biggest ship, Pioneering Spirit, formerly a Nazi named vessel, the Pieter Schelte, is cleared to lift Brent Delta topside in one go

7 July 2015

Oil giant Shell is to press ahead with plans to remove the topside of the Brent Delta platform in a single lift after its decommissioning project was cleared by the UK government.

Shell will use a heavy-lift vessel to remove the 24,200-tonne structure once preparations have been completed.

Work has already started on strengthening the topside in anticipation of a 2016 lift.

UK ministers cleared the project following a 30-day public consultation.

The lift will be carried out by the Korean-built vessel Pioneering Spirit after “thorough preparations and weather assessments”, Shell said. read more

John Donovan, Co-Founder Royal Dutch Shell Plc.com

By John Donovan

Corporate espionage: Shell Cloak and Dagger activities spanning more than two decades – much of it directed against me 

SHELL ALSO

• Infiltrated spies into the Nigerian government 
• Was responsible for covert operations against Greenpeace and other perceived enemies, using a serving secret service agent freelancing for a private spy firm closely connected with Shell
• Employed private security contractors on the Corrib Gas Project to carry out surveillance operations in Ireland against the public and the press
• Secretly applied pressure to The Sunday Times and The Financial Times in an attempt to suppress news coverage about me

In a recent Daily Mail article about Shell’s takeover bid for the BG Group, reference was made to a  ‘cloak and dagger’ meeting between Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden and the chairman of BG Group, Andrew Gould, at The Dorchester Hotel.

It was obviously an important commercially sensitive meeting, but it hardly compares with the real ‘cloak and dagger’ activity for which Shell has been responsible over the decades, some of it directed at me and my late father, Alfred Donovan. read more

UPDATE BY JOHN DONOVAN 6 Feb 2015

According to a Dutch magazine article published today, Shell had a long connection with Pieter Schelte Heerema, who, on May 17, 1942, was promoted by Heinrich Himmler no less, to SS- Untersturmführeris. Shell is currently scheduled to be the largest user of the Nazi named ship. Consequently, Shell has the clout to put immense pressure on Edward Heerema to change the name, under the threat of cancelling the contract. Surely Shell has contingency insurance in place to cover any losses, knowing beforehand that it was playing with fire in contracting to use a ship with such a toxic name? Astonishing similarity with the Brent Spar decommissioning affair, which turned into a PR disaster for Shell and seems destined to happen again in this foreseeable “storm of criticism” unless Shell acts decisively. Regular visitors to this website know that I have been warning Shell for ages about associating itself with this Nazi named ship. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the sleazy sinister son, Edward Heerema, is unhinged in relation to this issue. Shell should bear this obvious fact in mind. By naming his pariah ship after his father, Mr Heerema has transformed a relatively obscure Nazi into an internationally infamous Nazi and in the process, drawn a lot of unwelcome attention to himself and his tax affairs.  read more

“For Allseas to name its vessel after a convicted Nazi war criminal is utterly shameful…: ”To even countenance honouring a Waffen-SS officer just shows how twisted, arrogant and out-of-touch Allseas management is. The Pieter Schelte should not be permitted to operate until it changes its name.”

Article published by Scoop.co.nz (New Zealand) Wednesday, 4 February 2015, from a Press Release by ITF Press Officer

Allseas Group’s Nazi-honouring vessel ‘must be banned’

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is demanding that Allseas Group SA, the owner of a ship that honours convicted Nazi war criminal Pieter Schelte, immediately change the vessel’s name.

The Pieter Schelte is a Panamanian flag of convenience vessel, contracted by Shell to service its Brent platforms situated on the UK continental shelf. It was named in honour of the Allseas Group’s owner’s father, who was a Nazi Waffen-SS officer.

ITF president Paddy Crumlin said the vessel’s name was a disgrace and it should not be permitted to operate in UK or European waters. read more

By John Donovan

Scottish TV news is reporting that the UK National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and its sister unions, are outraged by the fact that Shell has awarded the Brent oilfield decommissioning contract to a ship with a Nazi name, The Pieter Schelte.

The unions intend to take coordinated action to stop the continued use of the scandalous Nazi linked name on the high seas.

Numerous articles have been published today as a result of a PR campaign by Shell in which it ironically claims to have learnt the lessons from the Brent Spar debacle. The STV story is the first to mention the Nazi name controversy. read more

by Ton Biesemaat, Dutch investigative journalist

…there is overwhelming proof that Pieter Schelte Heerema remained a staunch Nazi until his death. Yet the world does not seem to care when one of the largest ships is named after this man 

There is a lot of media noise about one of the world’s largest ships, which is now in its finishing building stage in the port of Rotterdam. The ship is named Pieter Schelte after his father by the owner of the Allseas company Edward Heerema. So far so good. Allseas is an international player in the offshore industry and the Pieter Schelte will be used for pipe laying on the seabed and decommisioning of obsolete oil and gas platforms in for example the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico. However Jewish organisations are angry because the ship is named after a Dutch Nazi and SS-officer who was vehemently anti-Semitic (1). read more

By John Donovan

The Observer newspaper, the Mail Online  and the Dutch Financial Times, plus a variety of other news outlets, all published articles over the weekend covering The Pieter Schelte Nazi Ship Controversy. 

SOME OF THE HEADLINES

Jewish outrage as ship named after SS war criminal arrives in Europe: The Observer/Guardian

Named after SS Nazi war criminal: World’s largest ship sparks outrage as it arrives in Europe just as 70th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz is marked (Mail  Online) read more

SCREENSHOTS OF ARTICLE PUBLISHED SUNDAY 25 JAN 2015 BY THE DAILY MAIL/MAIL ONLINE read more

FROM AN ARTICLE BY ED VULLIAMY PUBLISHED BY THEGUARDIAN.COM AND THE OBSERVER NEWSPAPER, SUNDAY 25 JAN 2015 UNDER THE HEADLINE:

World’s biggest ship, the Pieter Schelte, sparks Nazi outrage on arrival in Rotterdam

Extracts

Leaders of Jewish communities and Holocaust memorial groups in Britain and the Netherlands have reacted with rage and despair at the arrival in Rotterdam of the world’s biggest ship, the Pieter Schelte, named after a Dutch officer in the Waffen-SS.

The vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, said: “Naming such a ship after an SS officer who was convicted of war crimes is an insult to the millions who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis. We urge the ship’s owners to reconsider and rename the ship after someone more appropriate.” read more

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

Article by Toby Axelrod, January 22, 2015

Follow The JC on Twitter

Should the world’s largest ship be named after a convicted Nazi war criminal? No, says retired British businessman John Donovan – and he’s not sitting idly by.

The Colchester resident has launched an online petition asking shipping magnate Edward Heerema of the Allseas Group SA to change the name of its giant new vessel, the Pieter Schelte.

Schelte was Mr Heereema’s father, a renowned maritime engineer but also an avowed antisemite who joined the Waffen SS. He eventually became an informant for the Dutch resistance in 1943. read more

THIS ARTICLE, INCLUDING THE SCREENSHOT OF THE FRONT COVER OF JAN 2015 EDITION OF HORIZONS MAGAZINE (IMMEDIATELY BELOW), WAS SUPPLIED IN ADVANCE OF PUBLICATION TO LLOYD’S REGISTER AND ALLSEAS WITH THE INVITATION TO CORRECT ANY INACCURATE INFORMATION. IT FOLLOWS THAT BOTH FIRMS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEEK AN INJUNCTION TO PREVENT PUBLICATION. 

By John Donovan

The above screenshot is from the front cover of the January 2015 edition of Horizons Magazine published by Lloyd’s Register. The front page lead story, is a multipage PR extravaganza trumpeting the key involvement of Lloyd’s Register in the creation and building of the Pieter Schelte, “the world’s largest-ever ship.”

The one thing that spoils the celebration about the gigantic vessel, which arrived in Rotterdam days ago, is that it is named in honour of a senior Waffen SS Nazi officer jailed for war crimes, Pieter Schelte Heerema. read more

By John Donovan

Printed below is an article published today by The Jerusalem Post about my campaign to persuade Mr Edward Heerema to change the name of the latest edition to his Allseas fleet, The Pieter Schelte.

It has just arrived in Rotterdam for some final equipment installation and will be bound for the North Sea in four months to begin work decommissioning Shell oil rigs. Shell apparently has no problem with the Nazi name, which is perhaps unsurprising given its own past close association with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.  read more

The biggest vessel in the world, the Pieter Schelte (above) has been built by Daewoo in South Korea. Swiss company Allseas commissioned the building of the huge $1.7bn ship. Both the legs and main structure of a rig can be moved simultaneously (shown in illustration)

Article by Eamonn Fingleton published by Forbes.com: 20 December 2014

Big Oil’s $3 Billion Homage to Nazi War Criminal

Ships don’t come bigger than the Pieter Schelte. They don’t come more controversial either. Built in Korea at a cost of nearly $3 billion, the gargantuan new ship is now sailing towards the Netherlands, where it will soon enter service in the European offshore oil industry.

A huge catamaran, it weighs 932,000 tons, a world record, and nearly 18 times the Titanic. It will lift offshore oil rigs weighing up to 48,000 tons, again a world record. So much for the technicalities – but there is, ahem, a slight political problem: the ship’s name. read more

APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR A PENDING VACANCY AT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC FOR THE POSITION OF COMPANY SECRETARY AND GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE. THE VACANCY ARISES FROM THE PENDING RETIREMENT OF THE CURRENT HOLDER, MR MICHIEL BRANDJES (ABOVE).  GENEROUS SALARY, CHAUFFEUR, PRIVATE JET AND BONUS SCHEME FOR THE RIGHT PERSON.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must have flexible integrity, a wiliness to bend rules and regulations, communicate in double Dutch, participate in cover-ups (e.g. the Brent Bravo scandal), mislead financial regulators and shareholders (reserves scandal), ignore emails, even from Shell shareholders; delay issuance of profit warnings; put the best interests of crooked Shell directors first, in the confident knowledge that they are insured against incompetence, negligence and dishonesty, and can still walk away with an $18.5 million payoff (Sir Philip) even if they ruin the company.
  
• Be prepared to conspire with colleagues, anticipating potentially embarrassing questions that might be raised at the Shell AGM and devising deliberately evasive and misleading answers.
• Willing to have tea and biscuits with Messrs Kane and Rooney when they make their annual OSSL blackmail pilgrimage to the Shell AGM,  demanding payment for alcohol used to bribe Irish cops on Shell’s behalf.
• Vigorously defend Shell’s whitewash of its support for Hitler and the Nazi.
• Fend off all claims that Shell has stolen Intellectual Property.
• Be prepared to authorise private undercover spies to infiltrate and destroy/undermine perceived enemies, such as Greenpeace and anyone that sues Shell.

This assessment of ideal requirements is based on the current occupant of the office of Shell Company Secretary and his recent predecessors.

Interested?

This is the link you need to use for all Shell job applications. 

http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/careers.html

Note from John Donovan. The timing of this invitation is based on my information that Mr Brandjes is 60 years old in December and will be retiring from Shell. If this is wrong, then he only needs to let me know and it will be removed immediately. I would send him an email to double check but he never bothers to reply even though I am a Shell shareholder. Nonetheless, I hope that he has a long enjoyable retirement whenever that day arrives. read more

Screenshots from a Fox Business video of an interview with Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden on 4 Sept 2014 shows the uncertainty that surrounds Shell. Mr van Beurden bluntly made it clear at the May 2014 Shell AGM that Shell’s priority is what is in the economic interests of Shell shareholders, not geopolitical concerns i.e. the invasion of Crimea. That explains why he happily bowed to Putin days after the annexation. Whatever the spin, ethics and moral issues are ruthlessly put to one side. The lack of scruples by companies such as Shell, has encouraged the Putin regime. Driven by the same motive, access to hydrocarbon reserves, Shell also connived with Hitler in his territorial ambitions. More recently, Shell traded with Iran despite US sanctions and Shell spin to the contrary. Like in relation to Shell’s claimed business principles, it is Shell’s deeds, not the mixed messages, which count. read more

Begin viewing at 49 minutes to see the part where Sir Henri gives a Nazi salute. (The whole video is worth watching if you have the time)

Video clip from a PBS TV Documentary adapted from Daniel Yergin’s book “The PRIZE: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. Published in 1992 by FREE PRESS ISBN 0-671-79932-0

The Prize (Part 2 of 8) – “Empires of Oil”

Covers the story of Royal Dutch Shell.

Includes, at just over 49 mins, film of Royal Dutch Shell founder Sir Henri Deterding giving a Heil Hitler salute at a major sporting event for Shell employees celebrating his birthday.  read more

By John Donovan

For nearly a hundred years the Royal Dutch Shell Group has appeased and collaborated with evil regimes including Nazi Germany, Nigeria, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Apartheid South Africa and with Putin of Russia, despite his annexation of Sakhalin2 and Crimea. Anything to earn a buck irrespective of ethics, human rights abuses and massive corruption. Astonishingly, Shell claims to operate with a set of business principles. Shell’s latest CEO, Ben van Beurden, is shown bowing to Putin on 18 April 2014,  soon after Russia had used force to annexe Crimea. No shame. No morals. Its just business. It is what Ben van Beurden describes as Shell’s “economic interests.”  Following in the foot steps of the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, the ardent Nazi, Sir Henri Deterding.  read more

For over a 100 years, Shell has been driven by unscrupulous greed as its sole motivator. Shell funded Hitler and the Nazis party and has subsequently done business with a string of evil regimes, including General Sani Abacha, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and the Mad Mullahs of Iran. Putin is but the latest  power mad egomaniac to be treated like royalty by Shell. Bowed to and fawned over on Good Friday by the overpaid bootlicker, Ben van Beurden. 

Sunday, 20 April 2014

By John Donovan

The New York Times newspaper published an article today under the headline: In Cold War Echo, Obama Strategy Writes Off Putin

Extract:

Just as the United States resolved in the aftermath of World War II to counter the Soviet Union and its global ambitions, Mr. Obama is focused on isolating President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia by cutting off its economic and political ties to the outside world, limiting its expansionist ambitions in its own neighborhood and effectively making it a pariah state. read more

Sir Henri was fanatically anti-Soviet as a result of the confiscation of Shell oil fields in Russia. Might be best if Ben does not mention this past history to his new chum, Vlad the Bad, who is rather keen to restore the Soviet empire. “Had Putin asked ‘and now you kiss my ass’, I am sure van Beurden would have complied.”

18 April 2014

By John Donovan

There are a number of news reports about a meeting earlier today between President Putin and Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, in which the sensitive subject of Ukraine was discussed.

Interesting to note that the same subject was also discussed at a high level by Shell in the 1930’s, on that occasion with Hitler, who like Putin, also had territorial ambitions. 

Printed below are extracts from a book, “Hitler As Frankenstein” by Johannes Steel (born Herbert Stahl,1908-1988), the son of a German-Dutch landowner. When the Nazis took power in Germany he fled to the USA working as a journalist for the New York Post. Because of his prescience, which included predicting World War 2, he became widely followed as a popular radio commentator in the U.S. during the war. (Information taken from Wikipedia) read more

However, unbeknown to Van de Vijver, Michiel Brandjes (right), who was alarmed by the findings of the report, sent a copy to a New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. This meant that events were no longer in the control of Shell. Instead, Shell’s most sensitive issue since its close association with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis several decades ago, had been disclosed to an outside firm, that had to consider and protect its own reputation.

By John Donovan

In May 2003, Frank Coopman, the then Chief Financial Officer of Shell EP, delivered bad news about Shell’s operations in Nigeria to the Chief Executive of Shell EP, Walter van de Vijver.

Van de Vijver sent Coopman back to Nigeria to investigate further.

The subsequent findings, set out in a status report, were even more devastating, revealing an overstatement of 1.1 billion boe.

Van de Vijver had instructed a team led by Coopman to work on the reserves issues.

The team included a top Shell lawyer, Michiel Brandjes, the then Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Petroleum. read more

*Three days after Russian diplomats assured the West that Russia will not invade Ukraine, Russia … invaded Ukraine.

Photo Credit

By John Donovan

In 2012 Shell won a license to start commercial production at the Yuzivska gas field in eastern Ukraine. A year ago then Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser signed a contract to drill for natural gas in Ukraine.

In January of this year, following negotiations between RDS Chairman Jorma Ollila and the then Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Shell expanded its plans for the Ukraine.

All of these deals were agreed while Viktor F. Yanukovich was President of the country.

Unfortunately for Shell the corrupt President is now deposed and hiding in Russia under the protection and control of Putin. read more

If only it was possible to resurrect Sir Henri Deterding at his best, the extraordinary Dutchman who built the Royal Dutch Shell Group. In his first couple of decades at Shell he was a brilliant decisive leader brimming with ambition, ideas and incredible determination. He would have acted to exploit BP’s self-inflicted misfortunes, whereas Van der Veer and Voser let the opportunity pass and instead took Shell down a disastrous path placing all bets on so-called elephant projects that turned out to be white elephants.

By John Donovan

In my view, the last Shell executive director/Chairman who had any gumption and plain commonsense was Sir John Jennings.

Since his time, long term Shell shareholders have witnessed a parade of hopelessly incompetent Royal Dutch Shell fat cat bosses.

The roll call of failed leaders includes Sir Philip Watts, Jeroen van der Veer and Peter Voser.

All three mired by disappointment and scandal.

Jorma Ollila has been non-executive Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc for several years spanning the tenures of the last two failed CEO’s and has proven equally uninspiring and flawed. read more

INTRODUCTION BY JOHN DONOVAN: Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Company Secretary Michiel Brandjes) and Allseas were given advance sight of the article below on Tuesday and notified of my intention to publish today. They were offered the opportunity to point out any factual inaccuracies plus an invitation to supply comment for publication on an unedited basis alongside the article. I stated that if no response was received by today, Friday 31 January, I would take that as confirmation that Shell and Allseas do not challenge the facts as stated. No response was received from either company.

EXTRACT FROM THE ARTICLE: “So we are now in this twisted historical situation that a company with a heavy burden on its shoulders regarding supporting Nazi Germany during and after the leadership of Deterding in the 1930’s, has ordered a company with an equally dubious history to decommission Shell oil platforms using a ship named in honour of a former SS officer.”

By Ton Biesemaat

You cannot escape history: Royal Dutch Shell and Allseas

Two companies with a dubious past history come together. One is Royal Dutch Shell, which under her chief managing director Sir Henri Deterding financially supported Nazi Germany. The other one is Allseas, owned by Edward Heerema. He is the son of Pieter Schelte Heerema, pioneer of the offshore business and a former Waffen SS member and diehard Nazi.

Allseas has ordered a South Korean ship builder to produce one of the largest ships in the world for decommissioning obsolete oil platforms in for example the North Sea. European legislation, which originates from the famous Brent Spar affair, obliges oil companies to dismantle these oil and gas platforms in an environmentally safe way. A whole new multi billion dollar business in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico is emerging. The mega ship from Allseas is now in its test phase. read more

By John Donovan

From time to time we like to highlight events from the long often-dark history of Royal Dutch Shell.

We have previously published evidence that Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis.

This article reveals how Shell collaborated in the Nazi annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia in the run up years to World War 2.

Royal Dutch Shell and its long-term leader, Sir Henri Deterding, who became an ardent Nazi, had a close relationship with Adolf Hitler and his henchmen. Deterding was the subject of gushing praise by Hitler. read more

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on April 29, 2013, on page A21 of the New York edition

By ARNON GRUNBERG

EXTRACTS

ON April 30, 1980, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was succeeded by her daughter Beatrix. That day was marked by violent rioting in Amsterdam.

My parents, German Jews who fled to Holland in the 1930s, were not exactly what you’d call royalists. But my mother had a certain weakness for royal families, and especially for the scandals that go hand-in-hand with monarchies.

And when it came to Queen Juliana, my mother got her fill of scandals. Juliana’s husband, Prince Bernhard, was a notorious philanderer who sired any number of illegitimate children and was accused of accepting bribes from Lockheed in the 1970s, forcing him to surrender his status as inspector general of the Dutch armed forces. read more

“So is Shell STILL anti-Semitic, or is it simply because doing business with Israel would upset the rulers of Saudi Arabia, yet another tyrannical regime in bed with Shell? One Country swims in oil. The other doesn’t. Perhaps that has something to do with it?”

By John Donovan

In March 2011 we published an article under the headline: Is Royal Dutch Shell STILL anti-Semitic?

SOME EXTRACTS

A Shell insider asked if we were aware that “there is one country in the world that Shell will not do business with?”

This was a reference to Israel. The insider explained events that had led them to ponder the question in our headline.

We suspected that Shell was a racist company. We did not know that it was still anti-Semitic, if that is the case. Israel is not included in the global list of Countries on shell.com where Shell does business. I cannot find any reference by Shell to Israel on Shell’s website. There is no reference to anti-Semitism in its Business Principles. It seems to be a taboo subject? read more

News reports from long ago are emerging on the Internet as newspapers create digital searchable online archives. This is a disastrous development for  companies such as Royal Dutch Shell that have been around for a long time and have a toxic history to hide.

By John Donovan

News reports from long ago are emerging on the Internet as newspapers create digital searchable online archives. This is a disastrous development for  companies such as Royal Dutch Shell that have been around for a long time and have a toxic history to hide.

An article published on 3 April 1933 by the Border Cities Star, a Canadian daily newspaper, reported allegations made in Pravda, the official political publication of the Soviet Communist Party in Russia. They accused Sir Henri Deterding, the tyrannical head of Royal Dutch Shell, of funding Hitler and described the Nazis as “obedient agents of their benefactors,” claiming: “Deterding orders-Hitler acts.” read more

We have to keep in mind that it was not only Sir Henri Deterding who was a keen supporter of the Nazi’s. In the 1930’s there were other Shell directors such as J.E.F. de Kok and *Wim Rost van Tonningen who were also keen supporters of Hitler and his henchmen.

Guest Author: Ton Biesemaat (Dutch freelance investigative journalist and writer) Article published 7 December 2012

Among individuals interested in the history of Shell, it is common knowledge that in spite of Shell sponsored academic studies, it is clear that Deterding was the man who made Royal Dutch Shell a global powerhouse in the first half of the twentieth century, but was also financially supporting the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler. This is very well illustrated by the photo of Deterdings death in 1938 on his German Mecklenburg-estate which was previously owned by the husband of Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands. read more

Shell’s penchant for tax dodging goes back almost 100 years. In comparison, Starbucks is a mere novice.

QUOTE FROM “A HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL, VOLUME 2

“This elaborate charade would have delighted Deterding who, in an earlier phase of the Group’s history, had excelled in devising convoluted schemes to avoid tax…”

By John Donovan

Starbucks’ £20m gift ‘makes joke’ of tax system

Starbucks has taken the “unprecedented” step of pledging to pay £20m corporation tax, even if it makes no profit – only for the move to appear to backfire and fuel the fiasco surrounding its UK operation. (SOURCE)

Starbucks the coffee conglomerate has negotiated a deal with HMRC to repay £millions siphoned off under the guise of “brand royalties” to an external tax haven. This was in response to a growing backlash from the UK public and calls for a boycott.

The tax dodging scheme which exploited a legal loophole, is similar to the machinations of Royal Dutch Shell who several years ago shifted ownership of Shell trademarks to a Swiss tax haven with the same objective. 

See: Royal Dutch Shell Plc Tax Dodgers: Offshore – and out of reach to the Revenue read more

Shell has admitted past discrimination against Jewish employees, which cost at least 20 of them their lives.  It supported racist regimes in Nazi Germany and more recently, Apartheid South Africa.

By John Donovan

Shell employees who have accused Shell of being a racist company will be interested in a comparison set out in “A HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL, Volume 3” between Shell’s much trumpeted business principles and those of its main competitor, ExxonMobil, in regard to equal employment opportunity.

Shell has admitted past discrimination against Jewish employees, which cost at least 20 of them their lives. It supported racist regimes in Nazi Germany and more recently, Apartheid South Africa. read more