Deichmann POLITICAL

Target: DEICHMANN SE, relevant group entities, and controlling principals

Evidence cutoff: 25 October 2026

Scope: Public political communications, operations in occupied territories, internal governance, institutional relationships, lobbying, financial assistance, and controlling-principal conduct.

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

Official Israel-Palestine statements

No public evidence identified of an official DEICHMANN SE statement specifically addressing the Israel-Gaza war, Palestinian civilian casualties, Israeli settlements, the occupation of Palestinian territory, or Israel-Palestine-related boycott campaigns.

No public evidence identified of an official statement by a Deichmann subsidiary expressly endorsing Israeli military action, Palestinian armed organisations, Israeli settlement expansion, or an Israel-Palestine ceasefire.

Comparative public communications - Ukraine

On 5 April 2022, Deichmann’s Austrian subsidiary published a statement expressing concern about the war in Ukraine, calling for an end to hostilities, and describing humanitarian assistance for Ukrainian children evacuated to Poland. The announcement identified approximately €320,000 in emergency support, particularly from the Polish Deichmann subsidiary, for evacuation, accommodation, food, clothing, and medicines through the Happy Kids Foundation.¹

In a corporate LinkedIn statement published in 2022, Deichmann described humanitarian projects for Ukraine, including approximately €320,000 for evacuated children and €75,000 to support the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen’s transport of medical supplies to Ukraine.²

Samuel Deichmann also published a personal LinkedIn statement in 2022 explaining the group’s decision to discontinue Russian operations and describing assistance for Ukrainian orphans, refugees, and recipients of medical aid.³

In a corporate announcement concerning its 2022 financial results, published in 2023, Deichmann confirmed its withdrawal from the Russian market. Heinrich Deichmann described the decision as a public statement supporting peace and opposing the humanitarian consequences of the Ukraine war.⁴

These documented communications establish a public corporate and executive response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during 2022–2023. No comparably specific Israel-Palestine communication was identified in the public material reviewed.

Other public social commitments

Deichmann’s corporate social-responsibility statement describes charitable assistance as an established part of the Deichmann family’s business philosophy and identifies humanitarian and development programmes.⁵

A June 2021 corporate announcement documented a partnership with Barnardo’s in the United Kingdom, including a £50,000 donation and a programme intended to provide 1,000 children with school shoes.⁶

Deichmann’s 2024 corporate communications describe the company’s social commitments as connected to the Deichmann family’s Christian understanding of social responsibility and the humanitarian activities of the Deichmann Foundation.⁷

Regional market framing

The company’s published international-expansion materials describe its geographical presence through conventional retail-market and store-expansion terminology. They identify the company’s business as footwear retailing and describe international growth through stores, online shops, and locally adapted retail operations.⁸

The Deichmann Group’s corporate website similarly presents its international subsidiaries as footwear, sports, sneaker, and streetwear businesses.⁹

No public evidence identified of Deichmann presenting Israel, Israeli settlements, or occupied Palestinian territory as a special strategic, ideological, military, or geopolitical partnership market.

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

Corporate geographical presence

The Deichmann Group identifies DEICHMANN SE as its parent company and lists subsidiary operations including SNIPES, DOSENBACH, vanHaren, Rack Room Shoes, solebox, and Supremo.⁹

The company’s corporate international-expansion page describes its geographical operating footprint and states that Deichmann-branded shops remain under group responsibility rather than operating through a general franchise system.⁸

Its published group expansion materials identify retail operations across Europe and the United States, including Swiss, Dutch, Belgian, and American subsidiaries, without identifying an Israeli retail subsidiary or an operation in occupied Palestinian territory.¹⁰

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann-owned store, warehouse, manufacturing facility, franchisee, or distribution centre operating in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or in the occupied Syrian Golan.

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann subsidiary holding a contract to supply goods or services to the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli Ministry of Defense, Israeli settlement authorities, or settlement-security organisations.

Indirect commercial relationships

Deichmann’s May 2020 public response concerning European garment supply chains stated that it generally purchases shoes from external production partners and does not normally operate its own manufacturing facilities. It described external factory auditing and identified Asia as the principal production region. The statement did not identify Israel or occupied Palestinian territory as a production location.¹¹

A 2023 SCAYLE announcement identified Deichmann as a customer of its e-commerce technology platform and described the relationship as part of Deichmann’s international online-retail operations.¹²

A subsequent Atlassian customer case study described Deichmann’s use of Atlassian enterprise software, including Jira, Confluence, and Rovo. The case study did not identify Israeli military or settlement use of Deichmann systems.¹³

No public evidence identified of a named Israeli intermediary or distributor supplying Deichmann products to Israeli military institutions or settlement-based businesses.

UN settlement-business database

The September 2025 update of the UN OHCHR settlement-business database identified 158 enterprises involved in specified settlement-related activities. The update followed the earlier 2020 and 2023 database publications.¹⁴

A subsequent report dated 25 September 2026, identified as A/HRC/63/20, was described by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre as an update containing 214 companies from 11 countries.¹⁵

No public evidence identified in the reviewed material of Deichmann or its named controlling principals being included in the UN settlement-business database. The complete annex of the September 2026 report was not independently inspected, so this finding does not constitute exhaustive verification of every listed entity.

UN Special Rapporteur investigations

The United Nations Special Rapporteur’s report A/HRC/59/23, dated 2 July 2025, examines the involvement of corporate actors and other institutions in economic activities associated with Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.¹⁶

No public evidence identified through the targeted searches of Deichmann, the Deichmann Foundation, Heinrich Otto Deichmann, or Samuel Deichmann being specifically named in connection with that report.

Legal and regulatory proceedings

No public evidence identified of an Israel-Palestine-related court judgment, OECD National Contact Point complaint, UN sanctions designation, procurement exclusion, or regulatory enforcement action naming Deichmann.

No public evidence identified of an Israel-Palestine-related regulatory proceeding involving the group’s UK operating company, whose legal identity and current active status are recorded by Companies House.¹⁷

Civil-society and boycott campaigns

No public evidence identified of Deichmann being a named priority target in the reviewed major settlement-accountability or organised BDS campaign material.

No public evidence identified of an organised Israel-Palestine boycott campaign directed specifically at Deichmann that had a verified campaign organiser, published rationale, and documented corporate response.

No public evidence identified of Deichmann publicly responding to an Israel-Palestine-related boycott demand.

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

Employee speech and political expression

No public evidence identified of Deichmann dismissing, disciplining, or threatening employees for pro-Palestinian speech, Palestinian symbols, solidarity activities, or peaceful political expression concerning Gaza.

No public evidence identified of employment litigation involving Deichmann and Israel-Palestine-related employee speech.

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann policy requiring employees to support Israeli state positions or restricting lawful advocacy for Palestinian rights.

Union activity

No public evidence identified of Deichmann bringing legal proceedings against a union or employee representative over Israel-Palestine-related statements or campaigns.

No public evidence identified of Israel-Palestine-specific shareholder-resolution suppression.

Platform and editorial moderation

Deichmann operates an online footwear retail business and identifies its e-commerce activities in its official corporate disclosures.¹⁸

Its documented e-commerce technology relationships include SCAYLE and Atlassian, whose published materials describe commercial retail and internal enterprise-software applications.^{12, 13}

No public evidence identified of Deichmann operating a public social-media platform, news platform, digital mapping service, or search engine with a reported Israel-Palestine-specific content-moderation controversy.

No public evidence identified of algorithmic suppression of Palestinian content, selective political-content removal, or state-directed moderation involving Deichmann’s retail platforms.

Retail product sourcing and labelling

Deichmann’s 2020 supply-chain response states that the company purchases products from manufacturing partners and conducts supplier audits through external organisations including TÜV and Intertek.¹¹

No public evidence identified of Deichmann sourcing products from an identified Israeli settlement manufacturer.

No public evidence identified of regulatory action concerning Deichmann’s labelling of products originating in Israel, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, or the Golan Heights.

No public evidence identified of settlement-origin labelling disputes involving the company’s group subsidiaries.

Internal procurement and military-service policies

No public evidence identified of an Israel-specific reservist salary-subsidy programme, military-service leave programme, charitable employee-matching programme for Israeli military charities, or dedicated military-support procurement policy operated by Deichmann.

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

Founding history

Deichmann’s corporate history identifies the business as a family-owned footwear retailer founded in Essen in 1913. The company describes its development as a commercial retail enterprise that expanded internationally while remaining under family control.⁹

The company states that it remains wholly owned by the founding family and has operated under Heinrich Deichmann’s leadership since 1999.¹⁹

[pre-2020] The original 1913 founding relationship remains historically established, while the family ownership relationship is confirmed as continuing in the company’s 2026 corporate information.¹⁹

Military and security-sector branding

The group’s official commercial presentation identifies footwear, fashion, sporting goods, streetwear, and sneaker retailing as its principal activities.⁹

No public evidence identified of Deichmann presenting Israeli military service, Israeli defence-sector technology, intelligence-service connections, or settlement development as part of its brand heritage.

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann-owned brand promoting an Israeli military partnership or settlement-support arrangement as a corporate achievement.

Institutional relationships

Deichmann’s June 2021 announcement identifies Barnardo’s as a UK charitable partner in a campaign addressing children’s shoe poverty.⁶

The Deichmann Foundation’s official disclosures identify Heinrich Deichmann as chairman of the foundation, whose activities are described as charitable and humanitarian.²⁰

The company’s social-responsibility materials describe programmes involving humanitarian assistance and development work.⁵

No public evidence identified of formal Deichmann sponsorship of Israeli state cultural diplomacy, Brand Israel programmes, settlement promotional events, Israeli military commemorations, or Israeli government public-relations campaigns.

No public evidence identified of Deichmann executives receiving Israeli state honours specifically associated with Israel-Palestine policy, military operations, or settlement promotion.

Academic and research affiliations

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann-sponsored Israeli defence-research programme, military-linked university partnership, or Israel-Palestine-related institutional advocacy programme.

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

Political lobbying

DEICHMANN SE appears in the German Bundestag Lobby Register under registration R004656. The register records an initial registration on 25 May 2022 and a subsequent update dated 2 October 2026.²¹

The October 2026 register entry reports lobbying expenditure of €50,001–€60,000 for financial year 2025, approximately 0.30 full-time equivalent lobbying personnel, and declared interests including labour law, international trade, the EU internal market, taxation, sustainability, e-commerce, retail, consumer protection, and competition law.²¹

The reviewed register entry did not establish lobbying by Deichmann concerning Israeli settlements, Israeli military assistance, Palestine recognition, sanctions on Israel, or anti-BDS legislation.

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann corporate PAC, political donation, lobbying contract, or formally disclosed advocacy campaign specifically directed at Israel-Palestine policy.

Corporate charitable financing

Deichmann’s April 2022 announcement identified approximately €320,000 of emergency assistance for Ukrainian children, particularly through its Polish subsidiary.¹

The company’s 2022 LinkedIn announcement separately identified €75,000 for the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen to assist with medicines and medical supplies for Ukraine.²

The Deichmann Foundation’s legal disclosure identifies the foundation as the Dr. Heinz-Horst Deichmann Foundation, represented by chairman Heinrich Deichmann.²⁰

No public evidence identified of Deichmann corporate donations to the IDF, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, JNF/KKL, Israeli reservist-support organisations, Israeli military-welfare organisations, Regavim, Im Tirtzu, or identified Israeli settlement-support organisations.

No public evidence identified of corporate sponsorships of settlement political events or fundraising activities.

Foundation grants and humanitarian financing

The foundation’s published material describes worldwide development, social-welfare, educational, and humanitarian programmes and identifies a governance structure involving a foundation board and trustees.²²

The publicly reviewed material did not identify an Israeli military, settlement, or military-welfare organisation as a foundation grant recipient.

No public evidence identified of foundation donations directed to Israeli military personnel, settlement infrastructure, or military-support charities.

Crisis asset mobilisation

Deichmann’s 2022 Ukraine communications identify corporate funding for the evacuation and support of Ukrainian children and assistance with medical-supply logistics.^{1, 2}

No public evidence identified of comparable corporate asset mobilisation for the Israeli military, Israeli defence procurement, settlement security, or Israel-aligned military logistics during the Gaza war.

No public evidence identified of Deichmann providing free logistics, transportation, retail inventory, software services, facilities, or equipment to the IDF or Israeli military-support organisations.

Conduct after major international legal developments

No public evidence identified of a Deichmann-specific political donation, lobbying initiative, military-support announcement, settlement sponsorship, or Israel-Palestine advocacy escalation dated after 19 July 2024.

No public evidence identified of such conduct after the ICC’s November 2024 arrest-warrant decisions.

No public evidence identified of Deichmann issuing a documented Israel-Palestine policy change in response to either development.

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

Legal identity

DEICHMANN SE identifies its registered headquarters as Deichmannweg 9, Essen, Germany, and records its registration with the Essen commercial register under HRB 21020.⁵

Its published German imprint identifies Heinrich Otto Deichmann as chairman of the administrative board and managing directors, alongside executive directors Alexander Bellin, Samuel Deichmann, Martin Fischer, Dr. Lars Jendrian, and Manfred Kroneder.⁵

The group’s official website identifies DEICHMANN SE as the parent company of a group comprising footwear and related retail businesses.⁹

Family ownership and control

The company’s 2026 public corporate profile states that the business remains entirely owned by the founding family and has been managed by Heinrich Deichmann since 1999.¹⁹

Companies House identifies Heinrich Otto Deichmann as an active person with significant control over DEICHMANN-SHOES UK LIMITED, specifying significant influence or control.⁷

The UK subsidiary is registered under company number 02893066 and remains an active private company.¹⁷

UK governance

Companies House identifies Marjan Josifoski as an active UK director appointed on 1 January 2023 and Galina Safina as an active director appointed on 14 August 2026.⁸

The filing history records Christopher Martin Holden’s departure as a director in June 2026, while the officers register records Simon Peter Wilson’s earlier departure in September 2025.⁸

An August 2025 industry report described the planned transition from Simon Wilson’s leadership to a new UK management arrangement. The current Companies House record provides the subsequent formal director changes.²³

Commercial mission

Deichmann’s corporate profile describes a business focused on selling fashionable, affordable footwear and related retail products. Its published ownership history and mission statement associate the commercial business with family control and charitable social commitments.¹⁹

The company’s international growth disclosures describe business expansion through retail branches, online shops, and group retail brands.¹⁸

No public evidence identified of a founding charter, controlling state share, government-appointed board position, or corporate mission expressly requiring Deichmann to advance Israeli state geopolitical objectives.

No public evidence identified of Israeli state ownership or a special Israeli government governance right over DEICHMANN SE.

As of 25 October 2026, the Companies House persons-with-significant-control register for DEICHMANN-SHOES UK LIMITED (company 02893066) confirms that Mr Heinrich Otto Deichmann is an active person with significant control (PSC), notified on 6 April 2016. The register identifies his nature of control as “Has significant influence or control” and records one active PSC and zero active PSC statements. The existing audit assertion is therefore confirmed and should be retained. The register does not attribute a specific shareholding percentage or voting-rights threshold to him; no such percentage should be inferred from this PSC entry. His identity-verification deadline was recorded as 14 November 2026, after the audit cutoff. ²⁴

The Companies House officers register confirms that Marjan Josifoski and Galina Safina were both active directors of DEICHMANN-SHOES UK LIMITED as of 25 October 2026. Josifoski was appointed on 1 January 2023, and the filing history independently records an AP01 appointment notification filed on 5 January 2023. Safina was appointed on 14 August 2026, and the filing history records her AP01 notification filed on 16 September 2026. Both appointment dates and active statuses in the existing audit are confirmed without correction. ^{25, 26, 27}

The Companies House officers register confirms that Christopher Martin Holden ceased to be a director on 10 June 2026. The filing history contains a TM01 director-termination notification filed on 25 June 2026. It additionally records a separate TM02 notification, filed on the same date, terminating his company-secretary appointment effective 10 June 2026. The existing audit’s statement concerning his departure as a director is confirmed; the simultaneous termination of his secretary appointment is additional governance information supported by the register. ^{25, 26}

The Companies House officers register confirms that Simon Peter Wilson was appointed a director on 1 January 2023 and resigned on 30 September 2025. The filing history independently records an AP01 appointment notification filed on 5 January 2023 and a TM01 termination notification filed on 8 October 2025. The existing audit assertion concerning his September 2025 departure is confirmed. For precision, the effective resignation date was 30 September 2025, while the filing date was 8 October 2025. ^{25, 26, 27}

Executive & Leadership Footprint

Heinrich Otto Deichmann

Deichmann’s corporate imprint identifies Heinrich Otto Deichmann as chairman of the administrative board and managing directors.⁵

Companies House identifies him as an active person with significant control over the UK subsidiary.⁷

The Deichmann Foundation identifies Heinrich Deichmann as its chairman and legal representative.²⁰

In the company’s 2023 annual-results announcement, Heinrich Deichmann publicly connected the withdrawal from Russia to opposition to the humanitarian consequences of the Ukraine war.⁴

No public evidence identified of Heinrich Otto Deichmann personally donating to the IDF, FIDF, JNF/KKL, Israeli settlement organisations, Israeli military-welfare organisations, or Israel-Palestine advocacy groups.

No public evidence identified of his holding a board position in an Israeli military organisation, settlement organisation, or identified pro-Israel pressure group.

No public evidence identified of a public statement by Heinrich Otto Deichmann explicitly endorsing Israeli military action or settlement expansion.

Samuel Deichmann

Samuel Deichmann appears among the managing directors identified in Deichmann’s official corporate imprint.⁵

In a public LinkedIn statement from 2022, Samuel Deichmann discussed humanitarian assistance for Ukraine and explained the company’s decision to withdraw from Russia.³

No public evidence identified of Samuel Deichmann making an equivalent public statement concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict.

No public evidence identified of his personal donations to Israeli military organisations, settlement groups, or military-welfare charities.

No public evidence identified of a related political or military board affiliation.

Other group executives

The official company imprint identifies Alexander Bellin, Martin Fischer, Dr. Lars Jendrian, and Manfred Kroneder as managing directors alongside Samuel Deichmann.⁵

The current UK company record identifies Marjan Josifoski and Galina Safina as active directors.⁸

No public evidence identified of any of these named executives holding an Israel-Palestine-related lobbying position, Israeli military charity directorship, settlement-organisation board seat, or military procurement role.

No public evidence identified of Israel-Palestine-specific personal donations by these executives.

Family foundation

The Dr. Heinz-Horst Deichmann Foundation’s legal disclosure confirms Heinrich Deichmann as chairman.²⁰

The foundation describes its charitable purpose in terms of humanitarian assistance, social welfare, development cooperation, and support for people in need.²²

No public evidence identified of the foundation financing Israeli military personnel, settlement construction, settlement-security organisations, or Israeli military-welfare programmes.

Post-2024 leadership conduct

The company’s current public corporate and regulatory records establish continued family leadership and corporate operations after July and November 2024.^{5, 7, 19}

No public evidence identified of Israel-Palestine-specific political financing, military advocacy, settlement endorsement, or related lobbying by the named controlling principals after either date.

The Companies House PSC and officers registers establish different formal governance relationships for the named individuals. Heinrich Otto Deichmann remains recorded as an active PSC exercising significant influence or control, while Marjan Josifoski and Galina Safina are the two active registered directors. Christopher Martin Holden and Simon Peter Wilson appear as resigned directors. These records support the existing audit’s identification of the UK subsidiary’s controlling principal and current directors but do not, by themselves, establish the individuals’ political positions, Israel-Palestine advocacy, political donations, or military affiliations. ^{24, 25}