Random Companies With Surprising Ties To Nazi Germany (11 items)

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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#4) Hugo Boss

  • Brand/Company

  Modern day Hugo Boss suits are the go-to uniforms for corporate douchebags, but unfortunately, those aren't the only uniforms that the company is known for making. During World War II, Boss manufactured the all black uniforms for the SS, the police-like faction of the Party. 

  Hugo Boss started in 1924 and was only in business for a few years before declaring bankruptcy, until 1931 when he was given a second chance by creditors. Boss joined the Hitler's party and was presented with numerous opportunities to manufacture their uniforms, eventually turning the company into a massive success.

  Boss was also known to be a great admirer of Hitler, going as far as hanging a picture of himself and the Fuhrer in his apartment. Still want to wear that overpriced cologne? 
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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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  (#6) IBM

  One of the largest firms in the United States, IBM employees around 500,000 people worldwide and has been around since 1911. However, what many people don't know about the company is that they were instrumental in the success of Hitler's Germany during World War II.

  IBM manufactured custom computers for the them that essentially functioned as punch card machines, enabling the Third Reich to keep tabs on the number of Jews being shipped in and out of concentration camps. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, IBM even increased their output of the machines, knowing that the number of Jews being sent to camps would dramatically increase.   
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  (#7) Puma SE

  • Brand/Company

  Sibling rivalry is almost as old as time itself, and Nazi brothers Rudolph and Adi Dassler are a testament to that. The shoemaking brothers had both joined the party when Hitler rose to power, and subsequently butted heads more often than Bebop and Rocksteady. After Rudolph was captured by the Allied Forces and accused of being a member of the SS, he was sure that his brother Adi was the one who had sold him out.

  Rudolph eventually split away from him and his brother's shoemaking business, forming a brand new company called Puma. Adi of course went on to create the brand ADIDAS, which you now you know doesn't stand for all day I dream about soccer.
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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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  (#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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  (#10) Eastman Kodak

  • Brand/Company

  Like other companies on this list, Kodak was notorious for using Jewish slave laborers that were plucked from concentration camps. Additionally, Wilhelm Keppler, a chief economic adviser to Hitler, had deep ties with Kodak. In fact, he even warned Kodak and a few other American companies that they would "benefit" from firing all of their Jewish employees.    
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  (#11) Random House

  Just like Bayer, Random House isn't 100% at for with their Nazi connection. Bertelsmann A.G, the parent company of Random House, was known for working with the party and even publishing Hitler propaganda. One of the books they helped print? Sterilization and Euthanasia: A Contribution to Applied Christian Ethics. Not exactly The Cat in the Hat, is it, Random House? 

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