Porsche, WWII

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Bob Watts
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#16 Post by Bob Watts »

A very interesting read on the topic:

Volkswagen Beetle
The Rise From the Ashes of War

Simon Parkinson
Worcestershire, England

Veloce Publishing Plc
Dorchester
1996
ISBN 1 874105 47 2
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#17 Post by Mark Reich »

It is true that Ferdinand Porsche got a pass on the required party membership, but his complicity is apparent in the design, construction, and manning of the Wolfsburg plant. It is also not plausible that he would be unaware of what was happening around him. He took full advantage of his clearly prominent position within the upper echelon to proceed with a variety of designs for both cars and weaponry. Porsche prefers to ignore that side as it does not mesh with the sunny sports car business we all love. Mercedes has a longer and more extensive history which is not so closely tied to one man and one family. The Mercedes museum provides a view of world history through the development of the automobile, warts and all. It is the fuller, albeit at times darker, presentation of history. While I love the Porsche museum, the gap in history is notable. Maybe not all museums need to provide all of the parts of history, but the jump from the first VW to Number 1 leaves a lot unsaid.
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Dennis ODonnell
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#18 Post by Dennis ODonnell »

"It is true that Ferdinand Porsche got a pass on the required party membership..."

Porsche Sr. was both a party member and SS officer.

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Sebastian Gaeta
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#19 Post by Sebastian Gaeta »

Dennis ODonnell wrote:"It is true that Ferdinand Porsche got a pass on the required party membership..."

Porsche Sr. was both a party member and SS officer.
I had not heard or read that. Do you have a source that I can look up or go to? I would be most interested in reading that.

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Re: Porsche, WWII

#20 Post by Mark Reich »

It is my understanding from books I have read that Dr. Porsche specifically was not asked to join the party and certainly was not a SS officer, hence the lack of a uniform in any pictures, even this with Hitler himself. Hitler apparently respected the Dr. for his knowledge and so did not make party membership a requirement. If this is incorrect, I would like to read a reference. That being said, his lack of party membership would not have prevented him from knowing what was being done at the time by his friend and benefactor.

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Dennis ODonnell
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#21 Post by Dennis ODonnell »

Search is your friend, boys.

R. Eberhard, "The People's car; A Global History of the VW Beetle" for his becoming a German citizen. E. Francois, "Deutsche Erinnerungsorte" & N. VonPradovitch "Die Schutzstaffel der NSDAP: eine Dokumentation" for his SS membership. (The Errinerung was the death's head motif ring awarded to him by Himmler, NSDAP of course was the Nazi party.) I haven't read them, there are others.

He was a professor, have to assume professors didn't show up to lecture in party regalia. If you believe he was a genius, any interest beyond his work like politics or social order would have been a distant second. Not too long ago we had Cheney threatening scientists for investigating global warming. Rather than be fired, some caved.

We all may be victim of cleaned up history in older VW & Porsche books. I have one somewhere with Dr. P standing next to an Audi Silver Arrow: He's wearing a Nazi armband on his sport jacket, there's a Nazi decal on the driver's headrest fairing where a national flag would be. The inscription is something like "party symbols reflect the sympathies of the day."

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Re: Porsche, WWII

#22 Post by C J Murray »

Dennis ODonnell wrote:Not too long ago we had Cheney firing scientists for investigating global warming. Some caved.
Strictly against forum rules. I am sure it will be deleted.

Were the scientists fired or did they drown when the seas rose?

Anyway, the new term is "Climate Chaos". That way it covers cooling trends. Earth Day 1970 warned of the "New Ice Age". Then came "Global Warming". Now, back to freezing. "Climate Chaos" keeps everybody happy.
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#23 Post by Dennis ODonnell »

Those not cast into the wilderness were locked in their offices which flooded. It was horrible. He went Dove hunting, shot a Hawk in the face by accident.

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Re: Porsche, WWII

#24 Post by Adam Wright »

It's amazing what you can learn with a well stocked home library, sure beats surfing the web.
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#25 Post by Adam Wright »

Like I bet the Baron Huschke had wished for better sponsors.
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#26 Post by Neil Bardsley »

Adam Wright wrote:Like I bet the Baron Huschke had wished for better sponsors.
Sorry Adam I don't know what that symbol is.

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Re: Porsche, WWII

#27 Post by C J Murray »

At least he didn't have a donkey patch.
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#28 Post by Sebastian Gaeta »

neilbardsley wrote:
Adam Wright wrote:Like I bet the Baron Huschke had wished for better sponsors.
Sorry Adam I don't know what that symbol is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel
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Re: Porsche, WWII

#29 Post by Brian R Adams »

"I vass in Iceland all during ze Var".
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

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Re: Porsche, WWII

#30 Post by Al Zim »

I began reading about WWII when I was 14 years old 57 years ago. My goal then was to try and understand the conflict. Now I know that goal is impossible and all that I can accomplish is to review the BARBARIAN acts of a civilized country, Germany, and the effects that their murderous behavior etched on mankind. Everyone that was in combat came away with psychological scars, deep seated trauma and possibly missing body parts. Those that were not in the accepted religion, were outspoken, or maybe were not physically Arian enough through a birth defect or accident were SLAUGHTERED. Doctors in the concentration camps performed operations designed to evaluate the endurance of human guinea pigs as the too were SLAUGHTERED. Russian prisoners of war were shot , hung, or starved to death. Russian civilians were raped, hung, shot and starved. Even as the war was ending, it was the goal of the Third Reich to kill as many Jews they possibly could.
Both Dr. and Ferry were Nazi party members and members of the SS. The Dr. was personally honored by Hermann Goering receiving a medal from him and a special album commemorating this event (50 copies published). Ferry was involved with the showing of the Schwimwagen to Adolph Hitler, Jochim Piper (of the Malmady Massacre) and the head of the SS. Porsche was more than a design company, they built what they designed. Using "workman" (read slave?) at their home in Stuttgart. During most of the war Hitler had unlimited funds and Porsche convinced him to make a variety of different VW based vehicles to which he was paid in gold not Reichmarks. Thus his family entered the war well to do and came out better off. Baron Fritz (AKA Husche) Von Huchoff (pardon the spelling) was a colonel in the SS stationed in Poland where the majority of the extermination camps were located. After the war many German officers worked at Porsche. A book in German was published about the Porsche family, unfortunately no copies are available (I wonder why).
I would suggest you read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Sherier. My first WWII book was the Bitch of Buchwalden the book dealt with Ilsa Kotch her husband was in charge of a concentration camp. He allowed her to walk through the camp and look at tattoos those she liked were were removed from the prisoners after they were killed and made into lamp shades. al zim
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