Tag Archives: Coca Cola

Funding the Holocaust.

The picture above is of an Opel Bliz troops transporter, Opel is one of the companies that provided the Nazi regime with equipment but also with funding.

But Opel was not the only company. Funding the Nazis already started early 1930s.

Nineteen representatives of industry, finance, and agriculture signed a petition on November 19, 1932 where they requested for German President Paul von Hindenburg to make Adolf Hitler the German Chancellor.

On February 20 a secret meeting held by Adolf Hitler and 20 to 25 industrialists at the official residence of the President of the Reichstag Hermann Göring in Berlin. Its purpose was to raise funds for the election campaign of the Nazi Party.

The German elections were to be held on 5 March 1933. The Nazi Party wanted to achieve two-thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act and desired to raise three million Reichsmark to fund the campaign. According to records, 2,071,000 Reichsmarks (equivalent to about €9,000,000 in 2022) were contributed at the meeting. Together with the Industrial petition, it is used as evidence to support the idea that big business played a central role in the rise of the Nazi Party.

These are just some of the men and companies that supported the Nazi regime, financially and often also in equipment and services.

Ernst Brandi, chairman of Bergbauverein
Karl Büren, director general of Braunkohlen- und Brikettindustrie AG, board member of Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände
August Diehn , board member of Wintershall AG
Ludwig Grauert
Guenther Heubel , director general of C. TH. Heye Braunkohlenwerke AG, board member of Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach
Hans von und zu Loewenstein, executive member of Bergbauverein
Fritz von Opel, board member of Adam Opel AG
Günther Quandt, major industrialist, later appointed Leader of the Armament Economy (Wehrwirtschaftsführer)
Wolfgang Reuter , director general of Demag, chairman of Vereins Deutscher Maschinenbau-Anstalten, presidential member of Reichsverbands der Deutschen Industrie
August Rosterg, director general of Wintershall AG
Hjalmar Schacht
Georg von Schnitzler, board member of IG Farben
Eduard Schulte, director general of Giesches Erben, Zink und Bergbaubetrieb
Fritz Springorum , Hoesch AG
Hugo Stinnes Jr. , board member of Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie, member of the Supervisory board of Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate
Ernst Tengelmann, CEO of Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks AG
Albert Vögler, CEO of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
Ludwig von Winterfeld , board member of Siemens & Halske AG and Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG
Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben , head of the office of Carl Friedrich von Siemens

Some other companies and how they contributed

AEG -Germany Forced labour from concentration camps.
Allianz -Berlin, Germany Provided insurance for facilities and workers at concentration camps.
Associated Press – New York, United States Censorship and cooperation with Nazi Germany.
Audi- Zwickau, Germany Forced labour from concentration camps.
-Bahlsen- Hannover, Germany Employed about 200 forced labourers between 1943 and 1945 – most of whom were women from Nazi-occupied Ukraine.
BASF -Ludwigshafen, Germany Collaborated with Degussa AG – now Evonik Industries – and IG Farben – to produce sodas used in Zyklon B – utilized in Concentration Camps to commit mass murder. The BASF built the chemical factory IG Auschwitz.
Bayer- Barmen, Germany Forced labour and medical experimentation in concentration camps,production of the chemicals and pharmaceuticals supplies of Nazi Germany.
BMW-Munich, Germany Forced labour from concentration camps, produced fighting sidecar motorcycles BMW R75 and aircraft engines.
Carl Walther GmbH-Germany Produced Gewehr military carabines and Walther handguns.
Chase National Bank-Manhattan, New York State, USA Assisted in the sale of Nazi war bonds (Rueckwanderer Marks) to German Americans.
Degussa AG (now Evonik Industries)-Frankfurt, Germany Zyklon B pesticide production used for executions in gas chambers.
Dehomag (a subsidiary of IBM)-Germany Provided data computers for the Gestapo state police notably for arrests.
Deutsche Bank-Germany Provided construction loans for Auschwitz.
Deutsche Bergwerks- und Hüttenbau- Germany Mine and quarries.
Dresdner Bank- Dresden, Germany Major stakeholder in the construction company for Auschwitz.
Eisenwerke Oberdonau- Germany Steel production. Part of Reichswerke Hermann Göring.
Flugmotorenwerke Ostmark-Lower Austria Engine production mainly for aircraft.
Focke-Wulf- Germany Produced Focke-Wulf military planes.
Franz Eher Nachfolger- Germany Produced books and the famous Mein Kampf under the control of the Nazi party.
General Motors- United States Automotive industry, provided passenger vehicles for the SS, Wehrmacht and the Nazi party.
Hoesch AG-Dortmund, Germany Mines and steel productions.
Hugo Boss- Metzingen, Germany Produced propaganda items, uniforms for Nazi State and Vichy Collaborating State.
IBM-New York, USA Produced early computers utilized in the pursuit of the Holocaust by Nazi Germany.
IG Farben-Frankfurt am Main, Germany Zyklon B main manufacturer.
Krupp (now part of ThyssenKrupp) – Essen, Germany Zyklon B was produced by the company along with other ones. Some more of the productions were Panzer Tank Series, U-boats, military ships, artillery guns.
Maggi (now owned by Nestlé) – Switzerland Benefited from slave labour.
Mercedes-Benz -Stuttgart, Germany Forced labour from concentration camps, produced turret for tanks. Also were the limos of choice of Nazi leaders such as Hitler, Göring, Himmler, and Heydrich.
Porsche- Stuttgart, Germany Forced labour,created design for the first version of the outgunning heavy Tiger tank series: the Tiger I despite the trials it was not retained for further production.
Puma -Herzogenaurach, Germany As Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, with Adidas. Shoe supplier to Hitler Youth.
Reichswerke Hermann Göring- Berlin, Germany State-owned steelworks.
Siemens-Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany Forced labour, Trucks possibly other productions as trains.
Standard Oil- Cleveland, Ohio Provided fuel for U-boats.
Steyr Arms-Steyr, Austria Forced labour in the Steyr-Münichholz subcamp, production of weapons.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch- Steyr, Austria Constructed military facilities and military vehicles as the light RSO Raupenschlepper Ost (with cargo, self propelled antitank and traction versions).
Stoewer- Stettin, Germany Used forced labour in its factory. manufacturer leichter geländegängiger Einheits-PKW, a versatile four-wheel drive car, for Wehrmacht.
Swarovski-Wattens, Austria Members of the executive board were members of the Nazi Party.
Thyssen AG (now part of ThyssenKrupp)- Hamborn, Germany Produced steel, machines, weapons and steelworks.
Topf and Sons- Erfurt, Germany Designed, manufactured and installed crematoria for concentration and extermination camps.
Volkswagen Group- Berlin, Germany Forced labour from concentration camps. Produced V-1 flying bomb and Kübelwagen military vehicles.

These were not the only companies, Coca Cola created the Fanta brand for the German Army, due to some sanctions not all ingredients to manufacture Coca Cola were available in Germany

Henry Ford was a great admired of Hitler and also funded the Nazi party, it is alleged that Henry Ford sent Hitler a cheque of $50,000 on Hitler’s birthdays.

Not only did these companies fund the Nazi regime and therefore by association the Holocaust, they also profited from the death and destruction caused by the Nazis. Many of them went on to become global marker leaders in their fields and some are now known as manufactures of luxury goods.

sources

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1841917

https://dbpedia.org/page/Secret_Meeting_of_20_February_1933

https://www.ns-archiv.de/nsdap/foerderung/eingabe-hindenburg.php

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Max Schmeling-defying an evil regime

mAX

Often the psyche of people is that they see what they want  to see. They see a headline or a picture and they will have made up their minds. There is no further need for more details on the background story, they have enough to work with and make up their own story.

For example people will see the picture of Max Schmeling above giving the Nazi salute and they will just assume that Max clearly was a Nazi sympathizer.

Or they see the picture below of Max Shchmeling being warmly received by   Adolf Hitler and immediately they will think that Max was one of Hitler’s best buddies and favourite sports man. But on both occasions they could not be much further from the truth.

Max and AH

Truth is that Max Schmeling also saw things but he did not like what he saw and refused to join the Nazi party, which would have consequences for him. Not only did he not join the Nazi party he also saved a few Jewish boys and refused to fire his Jewish boxing promoter Joe Jacobs.

Max was a world champion heavyweight fighter from Germany whose two fights with Joe Louis transcended boxing and became worldwide political events because of their racial and international significance.

I will not go into Max’s boxing career. I will only focus on 2 matches ,both against the boxing legend Joe Louis.

On Friday 19, June 1936 Max Schmeling beat Joe Louis in the Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, USA

KO

Less then 2 years later in the same venue on Wednesday 22, June 1938, Joe Louis got his revenge and beat Max Schmeling and took back the World Heavyweight Title. The fight had been  portrayed as the battle of the Aryan versus the Black, a struggle of evil against good .When Louis regained his title, Hitler took Schmeling’s defeat as an embarrassment to the nation.

In an interview in 1975 ,Schmeling remembered the defeat: “Looking back, I’m almost happy I lost that fight. Just imagine if I would have come back to Germany with a victory. I had nothing to do with the Nazis, but they would have given me a medal. After the war I might have been considered a war criminal.”

KO2

During the 1938 November Pogrom-Kristallnacht- Max hid the 2 sons of his Jewish friend David Lewin. He hid the 2 boys ,Henry and Werner, in his apartment at the Excelsior Hotel in Berlin. Schmeling had told the front desk of the Hotel that he was ill and was not to be disturbed.

After things had calmed down Schmeling helped the 2 boys flee the country. The boys escaped to the United States, where Henri got a great career in managing Hotels, including the Hilton in Las Vegas.Henri Lewin was convinced  that he and his brother owe their lives to Schmeling and he sincerely believed that Schmeling himself could have died for saving them.

In 1923 Schmeing had hired Jewish New York born boxing promoter Joe Jacobs. Hitler had demanded that Schmeling would fire Jacobs, Schmeling refused to do so.

Because his refusal of joining the Nazi party ,he was him drafted into the Paratroopers and was sent him on very dangerous missions.He did partake in the Battle of Crete in May 1941, where he was wounded in his right knee by mortar fire shrapnel during the first day of the battle. After recovering, he was dismissed from active service after being deemed medically unfit for duty because of his injury.

Max remained a close friend of Joe Louis and even paid for Joe’s funeral in 1981. and became a successful business man in Germany after the war. He had been hired by Coca Cola to run the company  in Germany, .

He only once gave the Nazi salute and regretted it for the remainder of his life. He died on February 2, 2005.

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Kurt Heissmeyer-“For me there was no basic difference between human beings and guinea pigs.”

kurt

One of the more disturbing aspects of the Holocaust is that so many perpetrators got way with murder, even after admitting to it.

Kurt Heissmeyer was a SS physician and the nephew of the senior SS officer August Heissmeyer.

In order for Kurt to receive a professorship he requires to present original research.

Even though  previously proof was dismissed , his hypothesis was that  injecting of live tuberculosis bacilli into subjects , the bacilli would function as a vaccine. Another aspect of his experiment was based on the Nazi racial theory that race played a factor in developing tuberculosis.

tb

By proving his theory he injected live tuberculosis bacilli into the lungs and bloodstream of 20  Jewish children, at the Neuengamme concentration camp.

On April 20,1945 on the birthday of Hitler and just a few weeks before the war ended, the children were sent to Bullenhuser Damm School, which had been used as a satellite camp. This was done in order to destroy evidence of the experiments. The 20 children and 4 carers were hanged.

Kurt escaped detection after the war and returned home to Maggdeburg in East Germany where he resumed his medical career, it was only in 1959 when he was discovered . He was sentenced to a life sentence in 1966, a year before he died age 61.

When asked why he didn’t use guinea pigs he responded, “For me there was no basic difference between human beings and guinea pigs.” He then corrected himself: “Jews and guinea pigs”. Heissmeyer died on 29 August 1967.

His uncle August was even luckier, Although he had been a senior SS officer who at one stage was in charge of the SS Leadership Main Office ,who were responsible of the supervision of the concentration camps,He only spent 4 years in  total in prison. After release he became the director of the West German Coca-Cola bottling plant.

august

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Fanta and the Third reich

fanta-1

Prior to the outbreak of the second world war, Coca-Cola’s only unqualified success on the international scene was its bottling operations in Nazi Germany. Sales records were being set year after year in that venue, and by 1939 Coca-Cola had 43 bottling plants and more than 600 local distributors in that country.

cola

Fanta originated as a result of difficulties importing Coca-Cola syrup into Nazi Germany during World War II due to a trade embargo.To circumvent this, Max Keith, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland (Coca-Cola GmbH) during the war, decided to create a new product for the German market, using only ingredients available in Germany at the time, including whey and apple pomace – the “leftovers of leftovers”, as Keith later recalled. The name was the result of a brief brainstorming session, which started with Keith’s exhorting his team to “use their imagination” (Fantasie in German), to which one of his salesmen, Joe Knipp, immediately retorted “Fanta!”

The plant was effectively cut off from Coca-Cola headquarters during the war. After the war, the Coca-Cola corporation regained control of the plant, formula, and the trademarks to the new Fanta product—as well as the plant profits made during the war.

During the war the Dutch Coca-Cola plant in Amsterdam (N.V. Nederlandsche Coca-Cola Maatschappij) suffered the same difficulties as the German Coca-Cola plant. Max Keith therefore also put the Fanta brand at the disposal of the Dutch Coca-Cola plant, of which he had been appointed the official Verwalter (caretaker). Dutch Fanta had a completely different recipe from German Fanta, elderberries being one of the main ingredients.

fanta

Fanta production was discontinued when the German and Dutch Coca-Cola branches were reunited with their parent company. Following the launch of several drinks by the Pepsi corporation in the 1950s, Coca-Cola competed by relaunching Fanta in 1955. The drink was heavily marketed in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

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I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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