A cursory reading of Wikipedia doesn’t really do the history of Volkswagen quite right. As a component of the government in the 1930s and early 1940s, they made some prototype vehicles that would eventually be the beetle, and yes, a few vehicles for the military. But it wasn’t until post war reconstruction where Major Hirsh and the British military took over and started the company we know today.
I’ll grant you that lowercase v volks wagen and the Nazis overlapped, and that is cause for some discussion and some joking. But it’s also true that uppercase V Volkswagen isn’t quite as guilty as Mercedes-Benz et. al. in the build for the Nazis department.
I would generally consider myself a VW apologist, but what you’re saying is simply not correct. They didn’t just make “a few vehicles for the military,” they produced over 50,000 kubelwagens, over 15,000 schwimmwagens, and hundreds of officers’ vehicles. They were the primary manufacturer of light military vehicles for Germany during the war. To this day the schwimmwagen holds the highest mass production figures of any amphibious vehicle.
Here’s an info plate out of a 1943 kubelwagen, with (uppercase V) “Volkswagenwerk G.m.b.H.” across the top, just as they did all through the Ivan Hirst and Heinz Nordhoff eras.
They even had nearly the same logo going back to before the war. This is an example of the “cog emblem” as seen on the hood of a 1943 Volkswagen.
Coming with receipts! I’m appreciative of that. I genuinely had no idea the number of Kubelwagens produced. I’ll certainly concede that production of vehicles during the war was significant. I’m trying to paint grey what this post paints in black and white, and perhaps it isn’t quite as grey as I make it out to be.
I’m certainly wrong in my assessment here, and thank you for the correction.
I do think it’s still worth pointing out that the very nature of its birth under the third reich, the fall of the third reich, and its rebirth under British military control, Volkswagen exists somehow different than the established automakers in Germany. I think it’s worth pointing out that while Volkswagen wears the nazi label more publicly than Merc or BMW, it’s likely the heads of those automakers were more actively complicit in the war than anyone at VW in the late 40s.
Sure, it also irks me when people start with the “nazi car” and “designed by Hitler” nonsense. The origins of the company aren’t something to be celebrated, but they’re not something to be denied either. And like you say, no German car company is totally clean, including use of slave labor by VW, Mercedes, and BMW.
Still, I see the post-war, civilian production of VWs as an example of the success of the reconstruction of West Germany rather than a continuation of any nazi ideology.
Volkswagen was founded in 1937
A cursory reading of Wikipedia doesn’t really do the history of Volkswagen quite right. As a component of the government in the 1930s and early 1940s, they made some prototype vehicles that would eventually be the beetle, and yes, a few vehicles for the military. But it wasn’t until post war reconstruction where Major Hirsh and the British military took over and started the company we know today.
I’ll grant you that lowercase v volks wagen and the Nazis overlapped, and that is cause for some discussion and some joking. But it’s also true that uppercase V Volkswagen isn’t quite as guilty as Mercedes-Benz et. al. in the build for the Nazis department.
I would generally consider myself a VW apologist, but what you’re saying is simply not correct. They didn’t just make “a few vehicles for the military,” they produced over 50,000 kubelwagens, over 15,000 schwimmwagens, and hundreds of officers’ vehicles. They were the primary manufacturer of light military vehicles for Germany during the war. To this day the schwimmwagen holds the highest mass production figures of any amphibious vehicle.
Here’s an info plate out of a 1943 kubelwagen, with (uppercase V) “Volkswagenwerk G.m.b.H.” across the top, just as they did all through the Ivan Hirst and Heinz Nordhoff eras.
They even had nearly the same logo going back to before the war. This is an example of the “cog emblem” as seen on the hood of a 1943 Volkswagen.
Coming with receipts! I’m appreciative of that. I genuinely had no idea the number of Kubelwagens produced. I’ll certainly concede that production of vehicles during the war was significant. I’m trying to paint grey what this post paints in black and white, and perhaps it isn’t quite as grey as I make it out to be.
I’m certainly wrong in my assessment here, and thank you for the correction.
I do think it’s still worth pointing out that the very nature of its birth under the third reich, the fall of the third reich, and its rebirth under British military control, Volkswagen exists somehow different than the established automakers in Germany. I think it’s worth pointing out that while Volkswagen wears the nazi label more publicly than Merc or BMW, it’s likely the heads of those automakers were more actively complicit in the war than anyone at VW in the late 40s.
Sure, it also irks me when people start with the “nazi car” and “designed by Hitler” nonsense. The origins of the company aren’t something to be celebrated, but they’re not something to be denied either. And like you say, no German car company is totally clean, including use of slave labor by VW, Mercedes, and BMW.
Still, I see the post-war, civilian production of VWs as an example of the success of the reconstruction of West Germany rather than a continuation of any nazi ideology.
I mean if you want to knit pick a joke, at least be that pedantic with your own comment
I’m not sure I understand your point. I don’t think there’s anything in my comment that requires clarification.