GM's Nazi Past
GM sold cars to Hitler, enjoyed it, then tried to cover it up, contends the investigative report, "Hitler's Carmaker" by Edwin Black. Much of the piece describes the relations between James D. Mooney, head of GM's overseas operations, and Adolph Hitler.
- "James D. Mooney thrust his arm diagonally, watching its reflection in his hotel suite mirror. Not quite right. He tried it once again. Still not right. Was it too stiff? Too slanted? Should his palm stretch perpendicular to the ceiling; should his arm bend at a severe angle? Or should the entire limb extend straight from shoulder to fingertips? Should his Sieg Heil project enthusiasm or declare obedience? Never mind, it was afternoon. Time to go see Hitler."
So far, the article seems to have only been republished in the Jewish press. This may have something to do with the majority of the documents Mr. Black cites residing on a terminal in the Yale library that must be physically accessed.
In all fairness, Black's article should be called, "GM: One Of Hitler's Carmakers." Ford, DaimlerChrysler (Daimler-Mercedes-Benz), and VW/Audi all sold cars to the Nazis.
Hitler's Carmaker [PDF] (Thanks to Kruckoff!)
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Comments:
Don't wear cotton, that industry supported slavery!
Considering GM's reliability, maybe we should thank them for selling such lousy cars to the Third Reich.
I can understand Daimler-Benz (the DaimlerChrysler monstrosity has only been around a few years) and Volkswagen supplying war materiel to Germany - both were German companies, and Hitler was directly responsible for the construction of the Volkswagen plant. It is much more difficult to justify the contributions of GM and Ford to the German rearmament effort given the obvious and universally recognized hostility of the Hitler regime towards Europe and the US. Neither company will be getting any of my money, though that has more to do with my disdain for inferior engineering than anything else.
Holy crap Xedos6, you rock!!
Maybe someone will make a seat cover for their Pontiac out of the Totenkopf t-shirt from Wal-Mart and then send in a pic? Maybe throw one of those ubiquitous Iron Cross emblems for good measure.
I think that would bring this all together as a special Godwin's Law tribute to Consumerist.
GM head James Mooney only received the Merit Cross of the German Eagle.
Big Hank got the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, was one of Hitler's most esteemed heroes, and was mentioned in Mein Kampf.
Ford's own newspaper, 'The Dearborn Independent', published a series of articles entitled, 'The International Jew, the World's Foremost Problem'. Doesn't take a lot of headwork to figure out Henry's relation with Adolf.
if I sold cars to hitler, I'd try to cover it up too. Jesus, it was HITLER. If Bush turned out to be some actual crazy fascist, people who voted for him would go, dum dum dum, what? I voted for gore/kerry!
Learning about history hurts my feelings.
Ummm, I think Ford still wins. They employed forced labor, published Nazi papers, and hell, Henry Ford is referred to by name in "Mein Kampf" as the best Nazi sympathizer in America.
Great article (I didn't write it) with the details here: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Corporations/Ford_Fuhrer...
Ah, so GM alone wins the title "Hitler's Carmaker", not DaimlerChrysler or BMW, even though the Nazi regime actually held a considerable shareholding in both companies, and not Volkswagen, even though that one was actually started from scratch by the Nazi government.
All three of course also built vehicles, weapons, and materiel for the German war machine right up to 1945, which of course stands in stark contrast to the massive contribution made by General Motors to the Allied war effort, as the largest manufacturer in the free world at the time.
Plus, although GM's head, Alfred Sloan might have not been willing to walk away from millions of dollars in business from a country the U.S. was at peace with until 1941, at least he didn't publicly support and encourage Nazi ideology like other prominant Americans- such as Joseph P. Kennedy, Henry Ford, and Charles Lindberg.
Besides, if one doesn't wish to support "Hitler's Carmaker", what alternatives are there to GM? VW, DaimlerChrysler, and BMW would all have to be rejected out of hand, and the Japanese automakers don't exactly have much to stand on either. Toyota is an offshoot of the once-massive Toyoda concern, which was a huge manufacturer of military goods during the 1930's and 40's; Mitsubishi impressed American and British servicemen into slave labor in their factories and built the planes that attacked Pearl Harbor; Subaru was a major Japanese defense contractor; Suzuki was a major diversified manufacturer with military contracts during the Impereial expansion era, and Isuzu and Mazda are controlled by GM and Ford respectively.
I guess that leaves Honda (not founded until after the war), and Hyundai (which is South Korean) as the only automakers one can shop without showing support for a regime that was toppled 61 years ago.