The Disturbing History of Volkswagen

this is Adolf Hitler the leader of the German Nazis and one of the most notorious and reviled figures in history and in 1937 he left a very disturbing mark on the automobile industry here's the disturbing truth behind the automobile brand Volkswagen Adolf was raised primarily in Lin's the state capital of Upper Austria when his father retired from his position as a state Customs officer he struggled in high school and decided to drop out since he didn't want to become a public servant like his father after being turned down by Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts Adolf continued to pursue his desire to be an artist after his dad passed away in 1903. in 1908 Hitler relocated to Vienna after his mother Clara passed away there he pulled together a living by painting and selling Landscapes and architecture during this time he developed the passion for politics and many of the theories that would would eventually Define Nazi ideology later Hitler relocated to Munich in the German state of Bavaria during World War One he eventually convinced the Bavarian King to enlist him in a reserve infantry unit he received two bravery Awards which he wore until the final days of his life at this point he decided to leave a trail that would never be forgotten by the end of 1921 Hitler was in charge of the expanding Nazi party capitalizing on the broad dissatisfaction with the Weimar Republic and the harsh terms of the Versailles treaty a large number of disgruntled former army officers in Munich would later join the Nazis later on Hitler earned 36.8 percent of the vote when he campaigned for president against the military hero Paul Von heidenberg eventually Hitler was able to seize ultimate power in Germany partly because of disagreements and inactivity among the majority of people who opposed Nazism even though the Nazis never received more than 37 percent of the vote in 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany in his Nazi government eventually seized supreme authority now that Hitler has established his political desires he felt the need to create even something bigger he needed to create an automobile company during the 1930s German automakers were mostly interested in building luxury Vehicles as a result only one of every 50 Germans had an automobile at this time a project that was executed immediately at Adolf Hitler's command served as the Forerunner to the business that would eventually become Volkswagen at this time the German government controlled by Adolf Hitler of the National Socialist Party established a new state-owned vehicle firm under the name gesso shaft Zar veritang Des deutschen Volkswagen's MBH it was later renamed Volkswagen work which actually meant the people's car company Volkswagen's original owners were the Nazi Affiliated German labor front and the company was based in Wolfsburg Germany Hitler's pet project was the creation and mass production of a cheap yet quick automobile that could sell for less than 1 000 Reich marks which was about 140 dollars at the time he also had a grandiose ambition to establish a network of autobahns and controlled access motorways throughout Germany but as you may know from the very beginning to its current status as a Global Automotive giant Volkswagen has always been a source of controversy and in fact if Hitler had known how the project would end he'd have probably crushed the whole idea right from the very beginning commissioned Ferdinand Porsche an Austrian and German automotive expert to create the design for the people's car company during a Nazi rally the fuhrer said the automobile had been designed for the wide public it aims to satisfy their desire for Mobility while also making them happy Hitler intended for people to be able to purchase Vehicles by contributing on a monthly basis to a Savings stamp program the car needed to be able to carry two adults and three children and meet other basic specifications including a speed of 100 kilometers per hour it was meant to cost 990 reichmark which is about five thousand to six thousand dollars in today's value or roughly the same amount as a small motorcycle but shortly after the kdf wagon made its debut at the Berlin Motor Show in 1939 World War II broke out and Volkswagen stopped making the vehicle as a result only a limited number of these automobiles were created prior to Germany's 1939 declaration of war Porsche then began developing military automobiles to support Nazi industrialization at this time the Volkswagen kugelwagon a light military automobile employed by the warmacht and Waffen SS was mostly used now the Allies wanted to make Volkswagen the center of their efforts to revive the German automobile industry after the war leaving the company in complete ruins due to the vehicle's historical Nazi links compact size and unique rounded design Volkswagen sales in the United States started off slower than in other areas of the world but then how was Volkswagen able to continue production in the meantime Volkswagen continued to make the people's car especially for top Nazi leaders Volkswagen had significant challenges as a result of the war because the factory was built to make civilian Vehicles it had never had a large enough Workforce since it was founded the large Fowler sleepin complex quickly resorted to forced labor to get workers in fact Volkswagen was one of the first businesses to utilize the forced labor of Soviet hostages in addition to German employees and migrant workers the company also employed prisoners of War inmates of prison camps and an increasing number of Soviet and polish civilian foreign forced laborers known as Eastern workers arbitsdorf the first prison camp there was built on Factory grounds at the city of the CDF car forced workers made up about 60 percent of the workforce the business actively looked for forced labor from the system of concentration camps while visiting Auschwitz in 1944 a Volkswagen plant engineer chose 300 competent metal workers from the numerous shipments of Hungarian Jews 650 Jewish women were also relocated to make military ammunition while Volkswagen and the Nazi concentration camps formalized their partnership when the Fuller's lieben site was designated as a sub camp in total there were four concentration camps and eight camps for forced labor at the Volkswagen plant the remainder of the facility's workforce was made up of forced civilian employees more than 4 800 people half of them women were classified as Eastern workers at the complex by May 1944 while some of these employees had been hired the majority had been forcibly exiled from their homes in order to help the reich's acute Manpower shortage and the manufacturing and agricultural sectors these employees lived and worked in frequently hazardous conditions much like prisoners of war from the Soviet Union and concentration camps at the facility more than 15 thousand people from concentration camps were employed by Volkswagen during this time to construct their automobiles Volkswagen even constructed the r beatsdorf concentration camp close to one of their facilities where they detained a Workforce of Highly skilled Prisoners the way the children of Eastern laborers who worked at the complex were treated was one of the most heinous atrocities committed at the Volkswagen War upon deployment some female forced workers got pregnant prior to 1943 Eastern laborers who were pregnant as well as those who were sick were exhausted for longer than three weeks were simply sent back to their home countries however this tactic was changed as the war went on by Fritz soccer a German general planet potentiary for labor allocation such deportations were difficult due to the Soviet Army's advancement and the Urgent requirement for all available resources to maintain the withdrawing German lines at this time German administrators started opening the first Nursery facilities for the children of foreign employees these constructions apparently offered a location for female Eastern workers to give birth as well as a space for them to get postpartum treatment but the idea of the child care centers in Germany was a complete lie these businesses solely exist to make sure that expectant workers may get back to their jobs as soon as possible unburdened by their infants the fate of the kids didn't concern labor leaders the majority of these facilities had incredibly High death rates infants died through malnutrition maltreatment and lack of medical attention over time the executives from Volkswagen built a facility there in February of 1943 originally in the barracks of its so-called Eastern Camp Dr Hans corbel head of Volkswagen's medical facilities and the plant physician took charge of the Maternity Ward at the Children's Home children were eventually transferred to a similar facility in the adjacent town of ruhen where the mortality rate was around 100 percent it is estimated that 365 little children Over The Offspring of female eastern laborers employed by Volkswagen perished in ruhen Dr corbel was executed in 1947 by British occupation officials after being given a death sentence for criminal negligence in the ruhen baby Fame case some captives were evacuated when the German staff fled the Fellers leaving complex as the Allies Drew closer the remaining captives eventually broke out of the Volkswagen compound to plunder the adjacent town and bring down the harsh manufacturing crew then major ivanhurst a British Army commander and engineer took over the Volkswagen factory after the war approximately 7 700 workers at the Volkswagen plant who had been made to assemble wagon military cars were set free in fact Air Raids substantially destroyed the plant which brought an end to the manufacturing of 66 285 kubal wagon automobiles throughout the war with this action Volkswagen's dark history came to an end and the amazing tale of its climb to become a major producer of Cutting Edge vehicles for the general public began there were approximately 50 finished Cuba wagons destined for the German Army when the Allied troops arrived at the bomb damaged plant later the British used the assembly line to manufacture the Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle the people's car designs construction was subsequently resumed in order to support the Allied effort in German Society in the ensuing years Volkswagen surpassed all other automobile Imports in terms of sales in the country meanwhile the Model T also known as the vehicle that set the world on Wheels changed the Auto industry and American society as a whole by making reliable affordable Transportation available to the common citizen twelve years later the Volkswagen Beetle broke the renowned model T's record of 15 million automobiles produced globally between 1908 in 1927. Volkswagen was officially denationalized in 1960 when the German government sold 60 percent of the company's Equity to the general public in the long run whether you love or hate the Volkswagen company they are still in the business of making cars and even though Hitler's plan didn't fuel The Escape of the Germans from induced poverty it helped in financing Nazi Germany's War Machine ultimately Volkswagen has now Advanced into the production of electric vehicles widely used across the world

Channel: Business Stories

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Keywords: Business Stories, volkswagen founder, vw founder, volkswagen history, volkswagen history documentary, vw history, vw documentary, volkswagen documentary, volkswagen, volkswagen story, volkswagen ceo, volkswagen golf, volkswagen polo

Id: 2hOYz6tuVDU

Length: 12min 42sec (762 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 01 2022