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(#5) Bayer
- Pharmaceutical industry
It prevents heart attacks, cures headaches, and... helps assist genocide? Well, not exactly, but Bayer's parent company, IG Farben, had strong ties with the Third Reich, specifically the Holocaust. The company employed many Jewish slaves at numerous factories, but that's not the worse part. Farben was responsible for producing mass quantities of Zyklon B, an agent used to lethally gas millions of Jews and other "undesirables."
In the mid '90s, Bayer even publicly apologized for IG Farben's involvement with the Holocaust – I guess 50 years late is better than nothing.
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(#3) Volkswagen
- Brand/Company
To Deadheads and hippies who grew up in the 60s, the Volkswagen Beetle represented peace, love, and tranquility. But did you know that the Beetle was actually the brainchild of Adolf Hitler himself? The Führer had the desire to create a car for the common man, since owning a vehicle in early 1930s Germany was something only the wealthy could afford.
In fact, the word "Volks" translates to "people" in German, thus making the Volkswagen "the people's car." Hitler's desire to create an affordable car for the common man was deemed impossible if done by the private industry, leading him to team with Ferdinand Porsche to create what we now call the Beetle.
So next time you see a cheery, 19-year-old college girl cruising in her VW, just smile knowing that she's unknowingly driving a product conceived by one of the most evil men to ever live.
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(#2) Coca-Cola
- Beverage
It turns out Coca-Cola was huge in Nazi Germany, and the American company had absolutely zero problem with that, happily sending the necessary ingredients across the Atlantic Ocean to meet the consumer demands of the Third Reich. It was all well and good until the US got involved in WWII, and then doing business with Germany suddenly became a matter of treason. But what about the German Coca-Cola reps still looking to make a living? They had to come up with something - and so they did.
Fanta - yes, that Fanta - was the brainchild of Max Keith, the head of the German-subsidiary of the Coca-Cola company. With the help of a few scientists he managed to create the new beverage using, among other things, fruit pulp, beet sugar, and whey (which, if you don't know, is a cheese by-product).
Fanta was a huge hit and while nowadays the drink's slogan is "Don't You Wanna Fanta?" back then it could have just as easily been "Don't You Wanna Be A Nazi?"
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(#9) Siemens
- Brand/Company
Siemens AG, a massive global conglomerate that manufactures just about everything, is no stranger to controversy. Back during World War II, the company had thousands of Jewish slaves working in their factories, many of whom would build things during the day and be eliminated before the sun went down.
Although that is horrendously evil, one of their more recent faux pas came when they tried to trademark the word "Zyclon" for their new line of products, some of which included (get this) gas stoves. Zyclon, of course, was the name of the poison gas that killed so many Jews during the Holocaust. Who on Earth thought that was a good idea?
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(#1) Krispy Kreme
- Brand/Company
The Reimann family own a controlling stake in JAB Holdings and have a sinister history. A spokesperson confirmed that Albert Reimann Sr. and Jr. exploited both Russian and French POW's during WWII and were avid supporters of the anti-Semitic agenda in Germany. Peter Haft, chairman of JAB Holdings, confirmed the ancestry of the family saying, "Reimann Sr. and Reimann Jr. were guilty. The two businessmen have passed, but they actually belonged in prison. We were ashamed and white as sheets. There is nothing to gloss over. These crimes are disgusting."
As a result of the revelation, the Reimann family will allegedly donate $11 million to an undisclosed charity.
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(#8) BMW
- Brand/Company
It turns out that BMWs aren't just the official cars of trust fund children – they were also loved by Hitler's regime! It can all be traced back to Günther Quandt, a German far right industrialist who founded the massive conglomerate that included BMW. His industrial empire was kept running by more than 50,000 slave laborers, and Quandt was also known to forcibly shut down businesses that had Jewish owners.
Quandt was given the title of "Wehrwirtschaftsführer" by Adolf Hitler, which roughly meant "Leader of the Armament Economy." Quandt's ties with the party were so deep that after his second wife divorced him in 1929, she ended up marrying Joseph Gobbels. The best man at the wedding? None other than the Furher himself. I wonder if Hitler caught the flowers...
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About This Tool
People often choose to buy brands that have a long history, because the quality of old brands is beyond doubt. But the fact that some companies with a century-old history had a close relationship with Nazi Germany in the past can easily be forgotten. We have to admit that they may be forced to do disgraceful things in order to survive, or it may be because of their terrible employers.
As we all know, the Second World War is the largest war in human history. As the initiator of the war, Nazi Germany has committed numerous crimes. But do you know that many companies cooperated with Germany during World War II? The random tool displays 11 companies related to Nazi Germany which may surprise you.
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