The AG Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt, formerly known as Roessler and better known as Degussa, is associated with the crimes of National Socialism like few other companies. As the supplier of the deadly poison Zyklon B, which was used to murder millions of people in the gas chambers of the Nazis, Degussa has become synonymous with the involvement of the German economy in the atrocities of the Nazi regime. A significant portion of the precious metals stolen by the Nazis also passed through Degussa's smelting furnaces. Additionally, Degussa was an important manufacturer of armaments for the Wehrmacht. The comprehensive book by Peter Hayes focuses on the question of why the era of the Third Reich was extraordinarily and persistently profitable for this relatively small large enterprise.