New book examines the link between German business families and Nazi fortunes : NPR & More News Here

Germany’s willpower to “never forget” the atrocities of the Holocaust has been at the middle of its postwar success. But the Nazi legacies of Germany’s wealthiest families spotlight the nation’s problem to make good on that dedication, in keeping with creator David de Jong.

He tells this story in his new book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History Of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties. He stated what shocked him most was the “brazen whitewashing” that also occurred at the moment by corporations like BMW and Porsche.

“The families that control them … are maintaining global foundations in the name of their patriarchs, such as Ferry Porsche, who designed the first Porsche sports car, or Herbert Quandt, who saved BMW from bankruptcy,” de Jong stated.

“Their business successes are celebrated, but the war crimes they committed or the Nazi affiliations they had, like being voluntary SS officers, are omitted on the websites of these foundations.”

The Quandt household are the heirs of the BMW fortune, which has made them the richest household in Germany. Together, siblings Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten personal greater than 40% of BMW and are value about $38 billion.

Their grandfather, Günther Quandt, was near Hitler and used labor from focus camps in his factories. Their father, Herbert Quandt, was a member of the Nazi Party and has been accused of committing battle crimes.

A spokesman for the Quandt household informed NPR the household had been clear about its Nazi previous in addition to its previous involvement with pressured labor, and had donated hundreds of thousands to commemorate the destiny of pressured laborers from World War II.

But de Jong argues members of the Quandt household nonetheless wrestle to reconcile their previous.

“I think it’s very hard for these heirs to distance themselves from their father and grandfather. They live in the shadow of these people,” he stated.

“They didn’t make their fortunes themselves, so their entire identity derives from the fortunes that were created by their father and grandfather, Günther and Herbert. And to disavow the family patriarchs is basically to disavow their own identities.”

The connection between the Nazis and well-known car corporations has been nicely documented. In May 1937, Adolf Hitler’s occasion based a state-owned firm that was later named Volkswagen, or ‘The People’s Car Company’. Hitler himself requested Ferdinand Porsche, founding father of the Porsche automobile firm, to design it.

De Jong argues that the thought behind “never forget” means confronting the previous with full transparency.

“You learn about history by showing the good and bad,” de Jong stated. “Not showing that [Herbert Quandt] … had the responsibility of a battery factories in Berlin, where, thousands of forced slave laborers were used, including female slave laborers from concentration camps, you learn nothing about his history.”

For de Jong, historic transparency is the “bare minimum” of what ought to be anticipated of the world foundations that these families preserve, and their corporations.

The audio for this story was produced by Vincent Acovino and edited by Justine Kenin. Ayen Deng Bior tailored it for net.

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