American manufacturing companies were big supporters of the nazis. Most of them, especially leaders of larger companies, not only refrained from risking their lives to save jews, but actually profited from the use of forced and slave labor, the aryanization of jewish property, and the plundering of companies in nazi occupied europe. The bottling factories and processing plant were then used to provide germanys citizens a key element to keep their energy up. Through their subsidiary, dehomag, ibm supplied nazi germany with the capabilities to easily and efficiently identify jews and other undesirables, as well as the technology necessary to track their transport to extermination camps before the outbreak of the war, ibm was already a. Jun 05, 2017 in the united states, the german american bund, an american nazi organization, was formed in 1936, and soon grew to have tens of thousands of members.
Diner is a prolific author and has written many books about american jewish history, including her 2004 book, the jews of the united states, 1654 to 2000. This excellent episode of the oliver stoneproduced tv documentary series the untold history of the united states based on the book of the same name cowritten with leading american historian peter kuznick puts forward the little known theory in the west at least, and a theory i have always tended to subscribe to, that the soviet union not the us was more responsible for the defeat of the. Herzstein is a carolina distinguished professor of history at the university of south carolina where he teaches. The relationship of ford and gm to the nazi regime goes back to the 1920s and 1930s, when the american car companies competed against each other for access to the lucrative german market. American nazis in the 1930sthe german american bund. Cocacolas hundreds of bottling plants in germany were naturally cut off from main american support when america entered world war ii. Farben and general electric which started as early as 1933. Based on german, british, spanish and american sources, this book is a thorough study of spain and its relations with nazi germany. How british high society fell in love with the nazis. Quite a bit of the financing for hitler and the nazis came from affiliates or subsidiaries of many u. This list includes corporations that were in existence during world war ii and that are. The sidney warburg book claims warburg involvement in the funding of hitler, and paul warburg was a director of american i.
After the 1929 crisis, communism and socialism parties growing in the 1920s grew even more in the 1930s. He is the author of numerous books including henry r. Nov 12, 2012 major united states corporations helped hitler and nazi germany published on nov 12, 2012 without help from u. The idea that while people are struggling for causes while others use the confused nature of military logistics to make dishonest money is appalling. The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation. It focuses on the economic relations from the time of francos victory over the spanish republic when the nazis planned to convert spain into an economic colony. As the book hells cartel explains, the history of the german. America and the holocaust facing history and ourselves. This list includes corporations that were in existence during world war ii and that are documented to have profited from participation in the holocaust. Even the american and british government supported nazism, because they saw it as a way to block communism in europe. Jan 21, 2015 the thought that these companies supported the most deadly regime in the world and went on to become fixtures in our daily lives is loathsome, even well over half a century later, yet it remains a. Everyone knows about the big three corporations that worked with the nazis.
I found the american axis by max wallace to be a very entertaining and informative read. Which american companies did business with hitler during ww2. But max keith, the representative of the company in germany at the time, redubbed the product fanta for reich consumption. It wasnt until the 1941 bombing of pearl harbor that coke finally decided it should probably not be associated with the nazis anymore.
Hitler asked for their financial support and to back his vision for germany. Rockwell founded the organization as the world union of free enterprise national socialists wufens, but renamed it the american nazi party in 1960. Most of germanys industrialists supported hitler such as fritz thyssen, emil kirdorf, and albert voegler. Major united states corporations helped hitler and nazi. German bank helped build auschwitz business economy and. Top 10 american companies that aided the hitler toptenznet.
In either case, the viability of these corporations and the interests of their respective stockholders would have been preserved. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading hitler s american model. Prelude to war, adolf hitler and the german trauma, and the nazis timelife books. Also, a book scheduled for publication next year will accuse general motors. I was surprised to learn just how involved many of americas top companies were in supporting hitler and nazi germany. World war ii is widely celebrated as a crusade in which the us fought unreservedly on the side of democracy, freedom, and justice against dictatorship. In the united states, the german american bund, an american nazi organization, was formed in 1936, and soon grew to have tens of thousands of members. Oct 04, 2018 harts new book hitlers american friends.
As i discuss in my book hitlers american friends, some of its. As it seems, standard oil as a large american company did business with germany with products important for the german war industry i. Jul 08, 2009 quite a bit of the financing for hitler and the nazis came from affiliates or subsidiaries of many u. In the book, kallmann thanked his longtime boss and mentor, ernst rudin. This book is a summary of blacks 5 other award winning books on this topic.
The nazis required lots of machinery to help carry out the holocaust and some of it was supplied by ibm. Jan 01, 2000 two examples will serve to illustrate how sensitive german companies have been to reminders of their complicity with the nazis. The relationship between american ford and fordwerke. How american racism influenced hitler the new yorker.
Pauwels explains in this book, corporations were delighted with the. For big business in germany and around the world, hitler and his national. Professor antony suttonin his book, wall street and the rise of hitler, professor antony sutton, author of nineteen books, provides a thoroughly documented account of the role played by morgan, rockefeller, general electric company, standard oil, national city bank, chase and manhattan banks, kuhn, loeb and company. Max wallace has completed a very well researched work. Mobilizing for chaos names a handful of people and pr companies that were intimately involved in pushing nazi propaganda in the united states. I will answer the best i can based on what i believe you are asking. How german businesses profited in nazi germany adl. Black also says that many american companies did what i. Americans also arent aware that the nazis were in part inspired by antisemites in america. How a major american oil company supported fascism by march 20, 2016 march 21, 2016 written by adam hochschild. George bushs grandfather, the late us senator prescott bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of nazi.
How the nazis helped german companies bosch, mercedes, deutsche bank and vw get very rich using 300,000 concentration camp slaves. American pr professionals helped sell the nazi regime to. There exists irrefutable documentary evidence of a further role of. Hitler was obsessed with the propaganda power of film, and the nazis actively promoted american movies like 1937s captains courageous that they thought showcased aryan values.
Nazis helped bosch, mercedes, deutsche bank and vw get. List of companies involved in the holocaust wikipedia. In terms of military alliances and joint wars the following countries joined nazi germany. Of course, the american boycott did nothing to deter the nazis, who escalated their violence against europes jews until settling on the final solution. The american nazi party anp is an american neo nazi political party founded by george lincoln rockwell. In the us, as in britain and other countries, there were profascist organisations before the war. In 1935, gm agreed to build a new plant near berlin to produce the aptly named blitz truck, which would later be used by the german army for its. According to the san francisco chronicle, the idea of killing jews, communists and gypsies in gas chambers originated in the u.
The thought that these companies supported the most deadly regime in the world and went on to become fixtures in our daily lives is loathsome, even well over half a century later, yet it remains a. In 1990 i published a book entitled the fruits of fascism cornell university press, in which i attempted to offer a compelling and novel thesis. Trade with the third reich bibliography national archives. Its scary just how efficient the nazis were at directing an entire country, including its population and industry, towards their evil goals. Since the late 1960s, a number of small groups have used the name american nazi party with.
They supported the american troops but continued to do business with and sell soda to the nazis. How big business bailed out the nazis brennan center for justice. Hugo boss designed the intimidating uniforms of the ss as well as the drabber brown shirts of the sa and everyone. We apparently have people among us who deny that us companies and wealthy american industrialists enabled the nazis and hitler, and at times, directly assisted the nazis rise to power. Scarecrow keeps demanding links for what i have always understood, through, you know, reading a book, that this is fairly well established history, and not. The united states and the making of nazi race law kindle edition by whitman, james q download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. I argued that the different degrees of success enjoyed by the ford motor company s subsidiaries in britain and germany in the. In the 1940s, while cocacola was fizzing up the bellies of the allied troops and supporting the american gis, the company s german branch, cocacola gmbh, was flirting with the nazis, building bottling factories in occupied states and even, at one stage, advertising in the nazi press. How bushs grandfather helped hitlers rise to power.
The great majority of german businessmen behaved in a decidedly unheroic manner during the nazi era. There are so many anecdotes and observations that resonate today, but one section of the book is particularly scary. A number of prominent and wealthy american businessmen helped to support fascist regimes in europe from the 1920s through the 1940s. These trials placed the story of their financial and moral support of the nazis into the historical record. The thought that these companies supported the most deadly regime in the world and went on to become fixtures in our daily lives is loathsome, even well. Like the swiss banks, the american car companies have vigorously denied that. A shocking account of ibms complicity with the nazis is a reminder that people bear moral.
But history may give us some greater perspective on how corporate money in politics. All industry owners who had large companies and presence in germany supported nazism. He also shows war war ii, or at least the holocaust, was largely due to the acceptance of academic eugenics. Although it was slightly reluctant at first, because some of its key scientists were jewish, in the decisive year before hitler won power, ig farben donated 400,000 marks to him and his nazi party. Among recent books on nazism, the one that may prove most disquieting for american readers is james q. How close was the us to ally with the nazis during wwii. Mar 01, 2018 american coke didnt see anything wrong with it at the time, says atlas obscura, and coke gmbh went ahead and threw a party honoring its 10th birthday and hitlers 50th. While america liberated western europe in june 1944, the unspoken truth is that american corporations actively collaborated with. May 29, 2016 most of germanys industrialists supported hitler such as fritz thyssen, emil kirdorf, and albert voegler. The list is endless, but these are the popular and american companies that aided the nazis with money and materials. After hitler became chancellor of germany in 1933, nazi officials sent agents to the united states to start the friends of new germany fng organizationlater renamed the german american. This american companies helped hitler and nazi to kill jews.
Nazis like goering were able to use their backgrounds to. Had the nazis won, general motors and ford would have appeared impeccably nazi. Its amazing how many companies that are still around today complicitly worked with nazi germany during world war ii and the holocaust. Jan 02, 2015 war profiteers are such a loathsome notion. Nov, 2017 top 10 american companies that helped the nazis. In 1941 the unthinkable happened, coke germany ran out of syrup and couldnt get new supplies from america due to wartime restrictions. Kirdorf was a the largest coal merchant in germany, thyssen was mining and steel making and voegler was the manager of the deutschluxemburg. Americans supported hitler than you may think time magazine. Certainly, large nonjewish businesses initially supported hitler to counter their fear of communism, and hitler received support from wealthy industrialists and large companies. In my country britain its public knowledge that members of the royal family and their american girlfriends flirted with the nazis.
Mar 26, 2018 americans also arent aware that the nazis were in part inspired by antisemites in america. Which american companies did business with hitler during. How a major american oil company supported fascism by march 20, 2016 march 21, 2016 written by adam hochschild tom dispatch march 20, 2016 march 21, 2016. Here is the list of top 10 american companies that helped the nazis. Adolf hitler and the nazi party rose to power with an ideology of national and racial superiority. Ford and gm scrutinized for alleged nazi collaboration. How big business bailed out the nazis brennan center for. Charles lindbergh attending nazi party in berlin 1935. The book may be short, but it is long on information on american businesses. American companies who supported the nazis bigsoccer forum. Fords antisemitism american experience official site. I found this book to be insightful and easy to read.
How bushs grandfather helped hitlers rise to power world. Company name year established place of origin activity deutsche wirtschaftsbetriebe citation needed unknown. Tetraethyllead but if alone it is not enough to say that the usa supported nazi germany. Mar 31, 2015 the american author lothrop stoddard was the source of the concept of underman subhuman adopted by the nazis in regards to jews and communists. A political portrait of the man who created the american century, waldheim. The third reichs supporters in the united states argues that the threat of nazism in the united states before world war ii was greater than we. The current management of the ford motor company has publicly asserted that its investigation of fords relationship with the third reich will be comprehensive, honest and objective. An expose of the nazi american money plot, 19331949 at.
How hollywood helped hitler exclusive hollywood reporter. Leaders of both of companies were among the few civilians who were later charged with war crimes at the nuremberg tribunals after world war ii. Sutton gsg publishers, 2002, paperback p21 the buildup for european war wwii both before and after 1933 was in great part due to wall street financial assistance in the 1920s to create the german cartel system, and to technical assistance from wellknown american firms. I will be the first to criticize the company publicly if it suppresses information and does not address the claims of those who were slave laborers for fordwerke. Jul 31, 20 in devastating detail, an excerpt from a controversial new book reveals how the big studios, desperate to protect german business, let nazis censor scripts, remove credits from jews, get movies. The first concerns an autobiography written by richard willstatter, a jewish nobel prizewinning chemist 1915 who had been forced to flee germany in 1939. Finland, hungary, romania, bulgaria, japan, italy, slovakiapuppet, and croatiapuppet. As can be concluded from the cover, the book is about the ties of the industrial tycoon henry ford and the renowned pilot charles lindbergh to the third reich. The americans who cavorted with hitler and the nazis youtube. The minutes show that it was decided to let well enough alone and to conduct future business on behalf of berlin through. It provides a good overview of the connections between companies such as ford motors, ibm, and general motors and the third reich. Wall street and the rise of hitler the history of banks.
The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation is a book by investigative journalist edwin black which details the business dealings of the americanbased multinational corporation international business machines ibm and its german and other european subsidiaries with the government of adolf hitler during the 1930s and the years of. What powerful companies, corporations, and people supported. Sep 25, 2004 george bushs grandfather, the late us senator prescott bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of nazi germany. The companys first car, the model t, broke ground and helped create the.
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