Ferdinand Porsche

[billyboy]

I just watched a show on the History Channel. It was one in a series about Hitler's managers. This one was about Ferdinand Porsche. Certainly not a flattering history about his involvement in the Nazi war machine. I guess the only thing good that could be said is that he was more concerned with mechanical design rather than getting involved in what he refered to as politics. He could be discribed as amoral at best. He didn't seem to phased by slave labor in his factory amongst other shameful practices that were shown.

[slodave]

Hi,

Sad part of history. He didn't (Porsche) have too many options. My mom lived in Germany during those times. Porsche would have been killed had he not worked for Hitler. His other choice - try and leave the country.

Dave

[HardDrive]

Its easy to project todays morality on his situation. What was he to do, stand up to Hitler and declare that slave labor was wrong? He would be dead before the sun went down.

[Joe Bob]

***** happens, think how you would react when your country or area was taken over by a group that required that you join the "party" or die.

Would you pull the plug? Emigrate and leave everything you owned or go down fighting?

Heck of a decision.....economics of the day dictated heavy duty decisions. Revisionist historical authors paint the situation as an easy thing....it wasn't.

[AFJuvat]

One must remember that at the time, Porsche (the company) was an engineering consulting firm, performing designs for various clients. With the rise of the Nazis, the government became one of Porsche's largest customers. The only automotive design that Porsche (the company) had done prior to the war years was the KdF wagen (the VW Beetle)

During the war, the KdF wagen project was put on hold as the industry geared up for wartime production.

Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche (the man) had a direct hand in the design of the following weapons:

Tiger Tank
King Tiger Tank
Panther Tank
Elefant Tank
Maus Tank

Labor was allocated by Reich Minister Albert Speer, who wound up serving 20 years in Spandau Prison for his role in exploiting slave labor.

I would say Ferdinand's actions were a result of the times. He worked for the Nazis, but was never a member of the NSDAP. He was cleared of all wrong-doing by the allies, though he and Ferry were imprisoned by the French for approximately 2 years. Ultimately, it was determined that the French imprisoned him for personal, rather than political reasons.

Here are a few other companies that were directly involved with some of the more unplesant aspects of WWII:

Volkswagen built launch tubes for Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons, and the airframes for the Fi-103 (a.k.a. V1 rocket)

Daimler Benz DB-600 series motors powered many German aircraft.

BMW made aircraft engines as well, the BMW symbol is representitive of an aircraft propeller.

Also, you could also point the finger at the following American companies for aiding and abetting the Nazis

E.I. DuPont: Owned a significant interest in I.G. Farben - manufacturer of rubber, synthetic fuels
General Motors: Owned a interest in Opel, manufacturer of vehicles for the wermacht
Hearst Publishing: Published pro-nazi propaganda here in the US.
US Steel: Significant financial interest in Krupp Steel, manufacturer of many german weapons
Dougless aircraft, Boeing Aircraft: Demonstrating Dive Bombing techniques to Ernst Udet (Luftwaffe head of procurement), who, based upon these demonstrations, authorized the creation of the Ju-87 Stuka.

War definately makes for some strange bedfellows doesn't it?

AFJ

[Joe Bob]

Might wanna look into the American prewar issues as well....not just the German side but Japan as well.

Japan had no steel industry. We sent them TONS of material both raw and recyclable scrap. Ford and GM had truck plants with technology and information going over there up to and exceeding 1940. Big GM and Ford trucks supplied material that killed your grandpa......

Our hero "Lindy" was pro German....so much so that he was dissed in the press....this guy was a an American hero..... he was a big wheel in the American Airlines Industry.

Read yer History.....fear big business.

[RoninLB]

I thought the history was pretty good.

[kycarguy 935]

I agree with it being a sad part of history and many didn't have choices at that time even for the Pope:

Pope's Nazi past
Benedict XVI former Hitler Youth member

Cardinal Ratzinger earned an unfortunate nickname from his more progressive peers: the "Panzer Cardinal". Like the tank. Pope Benedict XVI, now 78, had his own brush with warfare as a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany.

* At age, 14 membership in Germany's "Hitler Youth" became mandatory. So Joseph Ratzinger enrolled
* He managed to get out early so he could study for the priesthood.
* Two years later, when he was 16, Ratzinger was drafted again by the German Army.
* Ratzinger worked as a helper in an anti-aircraft briagde.
* In 1945, he was put through basic training and stationed near his hometown in Bavaria.
* When Allied forces advanced, he deserted the German army — risking death by that act alone.
* After he escaped, Ratzinger was captured by American soldiers and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.

[billyboy]

There were and always (hopefully) will be people who do stand up for right inspite of the cost .One such person from that era was Dietrich Bonhoffer who died for his outspoken opposition to the Nazi regime. I guess we can never be sure how we would react personally, until we are actually in that situation. We can get clues from a self examination of our handling of less serious situations that we meet day to day.