Date: Thu, 07 Nov 1996 09:40:47 -0500
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Richard Golen <rgolen@umassd.edu>
Subject: RE: New Book Examines Volkswagen's Nazi Years
=09
jscohen writes:
>VWs are great, but there is blood it's hands.
That's one hell of a naive statement.=20
Have you ever taken a Bayer Asprin? Bayer is a German company. During =
WW2 its subsidiaries produced Zyclon B the cyanide compound that was =
used in the gas chambers in the concentration camps.
Have you driven a Ford lately? or ever? Ford AG built aircraft engines =
and components for the Luftwaffe during WW2. In fact, prior to the =
German declaration of war against the US, Ford in Detroit received =
profits from their German operation.=20
What about a GM product? GM's German division Opel not only made troop =
carrier trucks, but also manufactured the diesel engines that were used =
in the early gas vans that killed off the mentally retarded, physically =
deformed individuals in the mid to late thirties, and were used to gas =
concentration camp inmates in the early part of the 40s.
Like Ford, GM also reaped profits from its German operations prior to =
December 1941 when Germany declared war on the US. There have been =
rumors from time to time, that the German divisions of Ford and GM =
funneled profits into Swiss banks from December 1941 through May 1945.
And while we are at it, the allies were not so sacrosanct during the =
mass executions of Jews at the Concentration Camps. The US and the Brits =
had tons of evidence, including aerial photo recon photos of selections =
on the railway sidings at Auchwitz. The allies had the capacity to bomb =
the death factories, and chose not to. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 44 =
was totally ignored by all of the Allies, when it was feasable for the =
US and Britain to mount long range bombing and supply operations.
So before you get on this whole Nazi-Blood-VW line, howabout examining =
the role the US industry and military played in the events.
Getting off of my soap box....
Ric
