Ethics and Professional Complicity: Reflecting on my Fellowship at Auschwitz
by Adam Shen, 2025 Business Fellow
“When evaluating something as horrific as the Holocaust, it is very easy and even comforting to imagine yourself as one of the victims. Indeed, you may make parallels between what happened to the Jewish population during this period and injustices you have personally suffered or witnessed. During our time together, I encourage you to instead see yourself through the lens of the perpetrator, which is usually a much more difficult approach to take.”
That was the challenge laid out by Thorsten Wagner, the executive director of Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) on my first day in the program. Along with a few dozen fellow graduate students and early-career professionals across business, design & technology, and law, I embarked on a two-week excursion to Germany and Poland to learn about the history of the Holocaust, discuss ethical questions from that time, and derive insights for our own future professional journeys.
As we learned, the progression of ethical lapses began gradually at first until they all seemed to happen at once. The Nazi regime, although racist throughout its history, was gradual in introducing its ideals and policies after it took power—what started as economic and social limitations eventually led to mass killings within a decade. Visits to various German and Polish museums, labor camps, euthanasia centers, and death camps provided a visceral and emotional backdrop to our experience. Images and testimonials from Auschwitz survivors left a particularly harrowing impression, made all the worse by the realization that the stories we heard were from the “lucky” ones who made it out alive.
As we grappled with real situations that German businesses addressed in the 1930-40s and contextualized the brutality of the concentration camps, we continuously questioned our own ethical assumptions and foundations. The people on the trip had a high degree of professional influence and autonomy compared to most individuals, and almost all of us could draw a direct line from our career to one that existed in Nazi Germany. After all, bankers, lawyers, engineers, consultants, managers, and executives were notable and influential back then as well. We examined this period from this perspective.
FASPE emphasized a powerful feeling—“that could have been me,” which not only applies to those who suffered but also to those who caused the suffering. It’s easy for one to believe “I would have refused to work with the Nazis” or “I wouldn’t have taken part in designing the gas chambers.”
These views, however, are naive and unverifiable. We learned that often it wasn’t the case that anyone was even “forced” to do these things. Instead, people would win the honor and privilege of a prestigious government partnership or opportunity. While some chose not to work on these projects, the majority did
These people weren’t directly running the concentration camps, rounding up prisoners or ultimately murdering millions of people. However, they did design, finance, insure, and consult on these Nazi endeavors. Additionally, they were well compensated for their services both monetarily and socially. The natural conclusion, then, is that these people were greedy opportunists profiteering off the suffering of others, right? Well not necessarily. Many individuals were opposed to what was happening politically. For people, however, who took pride in their careers, working on these projects was the avenue to continue practicing their craft, feeling professional satisfaction, or advancing on the corporate ladder.
We, as future business leaders, must be mindful of the ramifications of our decisions. Even if not on the scale of the Holocaust, ethical quandaries will always exist. What is morally right or wrong? Or more realistically, what ethical tradeoffs do I face? Or even more realistically, how do I balance my own personal incentives and security with the drive to do what’s morally “better” or “best”? Which battles should I fight? What are the second- or third-order effects of my decisions that are not immediately obvious
These are all tough questions, and I am thankful for the superb community of individuals I was able to ponder/debate them with on the trip. Undoubtedly the greatest asset to this experience has been meeting the faculty and fellows who arrived with varied backgrounds to tackle and evaluate these challenges together. Listening to others from across disciplines discuss their own experiences, ethical dilemmas, and decision-making processes demonstrated the necessity and difficulty of making tough moral choices and allowed me to adopt a more capacious, rigorous perspective.
It was liberating to realize there is rarely a clear, right answer. The only wrong path is to stick your head in the sand and not reflect on the process at all. Taking some time, even briefly, to evaluate potential ethical consequences—a step that is too often skipped—will drastically improve the quality of your moral decision-making. And, if you have the support and insights of others who share similar values, well— that’s even more powerful.
Adam Shen was a 2025 FASPE Business Fellow. He is pursuing an M.S. in Financial Economics at Columbia Business School.