When people say that Porsche "designed the VW for Hitler", the statement is technically true but misleading, IMO. Makes it sound like they were best friends and doing each other favors. The way I've heard it was that there was a massive design contest for the new "people's car", all of the large and small German auto companies were involved, (Germany had a thriving auto industry in the first part of the 20th century), and Porsche won the contract w/ his design. Very impressive considering the competition.
Because of his engineering genius in a culture that reveres engineers, (along w/ artists, but that is another thread), he became a very important and prominent German right before WWII. He was certainly never known to be particularly consientious about Germany's conduct during the war, but like so many other people was unfortunately apolitical when the times called for the opposite, also IMO.
I guess that most older Germans claimed that they were unaware of Hitler's atrocities at the time, kind of hard to proove or disproove. Where is Roland when we need him?
