Naming Rights

I may piss a few people off here, but so be it.

There have been many articles in the news lately about the prospect of Allianz, the largest German insurance company, buying the naming rights to the new stadium in New York. Huge protests and outcry have arisen, as apparently Allianz had ties to the Nazi party back in the 1930s and 1940s, helping them transfer funds and insure concentration camps. People are outraged that such a firm would be considered to be allowed to buy the naming rights of a stadium, let alone in New York where there is a very high Jewish population.

I don't understand it. Any company that wanted to survive the 1930s and 1940s in Germany had to support the Nazi party or risk being shut down (or killed). We have no idea if everyone who ran the company jumped on board happily with the Nazi party or went along (in horror) just trying to keep the company alive. While I certainly don't advocate forgiving and forgetting, there is a point where we have to move on and realize that we are a few generations removed from the atrocities that took place in the World War II era and that we cannot hold grandkids and great grandkids accountable for actions of generations past.

This may sound condescending (and certainly isn't meant to) but I was proud of Rabbi Rosenbaum when he said that we need not live in the past and to move on. The fact is that we could look in most American companies and find things each one is not proud of or something done illegally. Should we eliminate GE and Halliburton from naming rights as well because of evidence of corrupt practices in their past?

They were just one of many companies that existed at that time that supported the Nazi party. It would be different if the stadium was to be named Eichmann, Goehring or Mengaleh Stadium, as these names bring up memories of horrible atrocities. But does the name of Allianz really provoke such memories and pain?