Volkswagen (VW) was founded by the Nazis on May 28, 1937, as part of Adolf Hitler's vision to enable every German family to own their own car. Originally operated by the German Labor Front, Volkswagen exploited more than 15,000 slave laborers from nearby concentration camps. In 1944, one VW plant engineer traveled to Auschwitz to select 300 skilled Jewish metalworkers to make military vehicles for the reich.
As World War II was ending, Volkswagen sent two representatives - Drs. Ellenmayer and Kardos - to meet S.S. Obergruppenfuhrer Dr. Scheid and other Nazi industrialists to plan for Germany's economic recovery after Hitler's ultimate defeat. Allied spies found out about this plan to rebuild the Nazi empire, yet American policymakers still decided to make Volkswagen the focus of their effort to resuscitate the German auto industry. VW remains a mammoth company to this day, and it retains considerable clout with the German government. - J. Michels
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