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Historically is there a relationship with Mercedes Benz and Nazi Germany?

46K views 48 replies 23 participants last post by  ath20wj 
#1 ·
I myself am Jewish, I drive a BMW, I know personally many Jews who drive German made cars. I was just curious if anyone knew the history of Mercedes Benz as to whether or not they had a part of the Nazi Germany party?

For example, I know VW is spoken/written about quite a bit in articles and books I've read that spoke about how Hitler used many different VW cars for his army and such.

It is also well photographed and fairly well known that Hitler himself was driven in a Mercedes Benz.

I am doing a paper on it for school about Nazi Germany and the German automobile, and just curious if anyone knew of any interesting articles, books, or had any thoughts on the matter.

Thanks for your time and help, feel free to post here, or you can PM me too.
Steve
 
#33 ·
I was in West Germany from 76 to 84 and the second world war was not a subject to discuss with these people at that time, they wanted to move on and I do not blame them.

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#35 ·
Well can you blame them? They, at that time were the future for West Germany and we were victors if you like stationed in their country. It was far better to greet as friends than to talk of a history they would rather avoid.

Incidentally, mentioned a few of my German friends to father and he totally blanked me, cannot blame him and god rest his sole. We must all move on together.
 
#39 ·
Not at all, I was young too and so were they, but the underlying trend was quite obvious. For me, at that time, it was go with the flow or do not attempt to make friends with any of them.
 
#38 ·
#40 ·
And before I make my OVALTINE and go to bed I must say this; The german people followed two world wars and the end result was a mad man who liked to kill people en mass. And it was not only the Jews he killed and lets remember the number of military dead, the number of civillians killed and the number of odd balls such as homosexuals/blacks/hookers/spies/secret agents. Why even his own military Generals were executed, the man was a flakey.:mad:
 
#42 ·
Why should you feel guilty, the Nazis were second world war, it is now 2011 and we are at peace with Germany.
 
#44 ·
True...

While visiting a camp last year I noticed all the youth and asked and was told that now, all high school students in germany are required to visit and report on two camps before they can graduate.

Maybe we should require that of american youth.

B
 
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#46 ·
True...

While visiting a camp last year I noticed all the youth and asked and was told that now, all high school students in germany are required to visit and report on two camps before they can graduate.

Maybe we should require that of american youth.

B
After the war, it took months - and in some cases a couple of years - to get Jews from concentration camps, out of the displaced person camps. General Patton was in charge of the displaced persons camps, and believed that the captured nazis were the ones in the best position to officially run the camps. And he gave them supervisory approval to basically lord over the Jews and the other survivors.

President Truman sent an emissary named Earl Harrison to investigate the conditions that Jewish groups back in America had been hearing that the survivors were living under these horrific conditions.

Harrison reported to Truman, "we appear to be treating the Jews as the Nazis treated them, except that we do not exterminate them."

Patton was incensed by this report to Truman. So, he wrote in his journal, "Harrison and his ilk believe that the displaced person is a human being, which he is not. And this applies particularly to the Jews who are lower than animals."

American youth and their parents would, of course, be mostly unable to afford to have the kids travel to Germany just to graduate high school, but we can at least teach the true history and details about the camps to these students.

A substantial percentage of high school students today know either nothing about the holocaust, or believe it wasn't really that bad. This goes on at a time today when there is a huge increase in actual belief in right-wing ideology, ushering in many right-wing politicians blocking much educational facts of what minorities have had to face.
 
#49 ·
Everything that's older than about 1999, has a problematic past.

Trying to only buy from brands and companies that didn't formally have a; racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, et al. past will have you living in the woods.

I like think of it as a big "F YOU" to these people. I'm a Black man driving a Mercedes-Benz, and there's nothing the Nazis can do about it.
 
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