Dear John and Doves:
Henry Ford appears to have been anti-Semitic and he blamed the Jews for a lot of the problems in the world. Hitler was a big fan of Henry Ford, so much so, that he kept a life size portrait of Ford in his office. Ford was also awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle by the Nazi Government.
Below is an excerpt from wikipedia under the subtitle: “The coming of World War II and Ford's mental collapse”. Click on the link below and then scroll down to the subtitle, “The Dearborn Independent and anti-Semitism”, to get an idea of what he was involved in.
Please pay attention to the following three items below. Then read the article with this in mind.
- Ford "insisted that war was the product of greedy financiers who sought profit in human destruction"
- Ford continued to do business with Nazi Germany, including the manufacture of war materiel
- Beginning in 1940, with the requisitioning of between 100 and 200 French POWs to work as slave laborers, Ford-Werke contravened Article 31 of the 1929 Geneva Convention.
The coming of World War II and Ford's mental collapse
Ford had opposed America's entry into World War II[33][42] and continued to believe that international business could generate the prosperity that would head off wars. Ford "insisted that war was the product of greedy financiers who sought profit in human destruction"; in 1939 he went so far as to claim that the torpedoing of U.S. merchant ships by German submarines was the result of conspiratorial activities undertaken by financier war-makers.[43] The financiers to whom he was referring was Ford's code for Jews; he had also accused Jews of fomenting the First World War (see the section on his anti-Semitism below).[44][33] In the run-up to World War II and when the war erupted in 1939, he reported that he did not want to trade with belligerents. Like many other businessmen of the Great Depression era, he never liked or entirely trusted the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, and thought Roosevelt was inching the U.S. closer to war. However, Ford continued to do business with Nazi Germany, including the manufacture of war materiel.[33] Beginning in 1940, with the requisitioning of between 100 and 200 French POWs to work as slave laborers, Ford-Werke contravened Article 31 of the 1929 Geneva Convention.[33] At that time, which was before the U.S. entered the War and still had full diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany, Ford-Werke was under the control of the Ford Motor Company. The number of slave laborers grew as the war expanded although Wallace made it clear that companies in Germany were not required by the Nazi authorities to use slave laborers.
The Dearborn Independent and anti-Semitism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford
Ford Germany
Ford-Werke AG later Ford-Werke GmbH
The company was re-organised in 1939 and changed its name to Ford-Werke.[4] With the outbreak of the War, car production continued at first with the Taunus being made until 1942 but increasingly military production took over. Ford-Werke built trucks and armored personnel carriers for the German armed forces. The company also manufactured the V3000 V-8 truck series. Most notably, Ford-Werke manufactured the turbines used in the V-2 rockets that produced thousands of civilian deaths[neutrality is disputed] Britain.[11]
In spite of the heavy bombing of Cologne, the factory got off relatively lightly and after the war production was able to restart in May 1945 with truck manufacture, the US government having paid $1.1 million in consideration of bombing damage.
Car making restarted in late 1948 with the Taunus. Henry Ford II visited the factory in 1948 during his visit to Germany when he was considering a purchase of Volkswagen, with which he did not ultimately proceed.[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Germany
Ford and GM Scrutinized for Alleged Nazi Collaboration
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm
“Fair Use For Information And Discussion Purposes”
Kimberly