Third Reich to Fortune 500: Five Popular Brands the Nazis Gave Us
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Already today you've used at least one product from a company that, at one time, worked for the Nazis. Now, in the name of not getting sued, we'd like to make it clear that we're not accusing any of the below companies of still being in bed with the Third Reich. All of them, to our knowledge, have long disavowed Hitler's regime as being both monstrous and no longer profitable. Hugo Boss
No yuppie's wardrobe is complete without their standard Hugo Boss suit, Hugo Boss dress shirt, Hugo Boss tie, Hugo Boss sunglasses, Hugo Boss cologne, Hugo Boss man-thong and Hugo Boss socks (to stuff the thong). Even if you're too poor to afford Boss' goods, you can recognize Boss ads from a mile away. They always feature serious-looking men who, despite having enough money for expensive suits, appear to be addicted to heroin. They typically wear tight clothing, and gaze at you wantonly with hollow eyes of infinite, longing that scream, "I'm attractive and I'm really very unhappy about it."
Job with Nazis:
So how evil were they?
But, unlike the products of some other companies on this list, the uniforms weren't directly responsible for killing people. In fact, since they actually made the wearers uncomfortable and smelly for a quarter of the year, relative to the rest of the companies on this list Hugo Boss probably deserves a medal of some sort. Volkswagen
German automaker Volkswagen came on the scene just before World War II, and was founded by Ferdinand Porsche. He's the granddaddy of those fast and expensive cars that wind up becoming fast and expensive fireballs upon impact with a solid object.
Long before the name Porsche became synonymous with expensive toys for rich people, Ferdinand was the lead designer of the most mass-produced car of all time: the Volkswagen Beetle. Job with Nazis:
So how evil were they?
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sorry should say:
you are right about the nazis get_awesome **
ty
Stormfin so Bishop Hudal , ratlines including the Vatican ratline , celebrating Hitler's birthday and not to forgot Concordat between Nazi Germany and the Vatican are okay and also if you think the Catholic Church were innocent and just protecting there followers you are f*****g retarded the Catholic church's hands were just as bloody and probably more so then any of the companies the catholic church looked after them selves , there wealth , there cronies , political allies and with who ever holds the power at the time. you are right about the get_awesome and Stormfin you are just a zealot who will no matter what refuse to believe your chruch is of any wrongdoing and fair enough it is to be expected however i take this subject very seriously.
You're f*****g retarded, get_awesome, and I quote:
"Pius XII, elected pope in March,1939, sought to prevent war by intervening with the leaders of European countries. After the war began in September 1939, he "sought to limit the extension of the conflict, to assist its victims, and to reach a just peace". Pius XII's October 1939 encyclical Summi Pontificatus condemned the invasion of Poland. Later, the 1940 invasion of additional European countries was condemned by Pius via the official Vatican newspaper. When Dutch bishops protested against the wartime deportation of Jews, the Nazis responded by increasing deportations, and rounding up 92 Catholic converts including Edith Stein, who were then deported and murdered. According to some scholars, "the brutality of the retaliation made an enormous impression on Pius XII" who felt that further denunciations would only lead the Nazis to extend their persecution to more people. When allied governments pressed the Pope to strengthen his condemnations, he feared that such action would be counterproductive and only provoke further persecutions. In Poland alone, the Nazis murdered over 2,500 monks and priests and even more were imprisoned."
If you read the article linked to "Zyklon", it means "Cyclone" in German. While the company clearly was evil as s**t in the 40's, some executive nowadays trying to name a product line "Cyclone" hardly means they are still Nazis. Unless the word "cyclone" is anti-semitic, in which case someone needs to notify all the Jews on the board at General Motors, as they've been using the name for decades.
You also forgot to mention the biggest corporation in the world, that was a pretty big supporter of the holocaust: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Wow...humanity really sucks.
no, actually heroin does give u heroic properties. its just everyone else that sees u that thinks ur a shivering hobo ready to urinate on them at the drop of a nickel
I want a kitten!
The word is called Schutzstaffel, not Schultzstaffel! It's an article about German brands so please spell the few German words right...
Could the companies get in trouble now for what they did then? I'm sure most of the CEOs of said companies have all changed, but it was still basically treason.
You forgot to mention something about IBM, they also built the machines that did the calculations so that a ship firing it's cannons would hit it's target spot on, did I mention they sold those machines to the Nazis.
Here is where the propagandistic piece of s**t, The Corporation, gets it wrong. Corporations aren't run by people out for some shadowy political agenda, they're run by people out to make money, snort coke, and f**k thai hookers FULL STOP.
I used to have a kitten similar to the one featured we named Junior. He grew up and became 23lb Maine Coon goofball.
Unfortunely, there are point to both sides of the arguements. On one side these companies did do evil things in the past and should face punishment. The other side is this was way in the past and if they actually admitted wrongdoing they'd be slapped with so many lawsuits that it would 100 years to make it through the courts.
Probably the best thing the companies could do is support anti-holocaust and WW II museums and such.
@Rasalom: Ummm, I don't think you get it. World War II was not so long ago. There are still people who are alive today that experienced it. My own grandfather had to flee from Europe to Uzbekistan to escape the Nazis during the war, and he only died last year. It's not really "something your ancestors did" if many of said ancestors are still alive...
Additionally, a lot of the issue is the fact that many American companies, IBM especially, were in violation of American laws by dealing with the Third Reich while we were at war with them, which is, by all accounts, treason. Yet they've never had to pay for their crimes.
Unfortunately about the kittens... http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1598#comic
While I was reading this article my little black kitten recognized my great need for his cuteness and proceeded to walk back and forth across the keyboard before finally collapsing in a purring pile on my chest. God bless kittens, goddamn Nazis.
@Pacey & a few others: After reading through the comments a bit I think it's pretty stupid of someone to want an apology from anyone because of something their ancestors did, whether it's for slavery(White people just bought the slaves, the people sold as slaves were actually captured & sold by other blacks so get pissed at everyone still in Africa's ancestors for selling your ancestors to white people. Also, slaves were used for thousands of years in Rome, Egypt, etc. before they were ever shipped to the Americas, so why is it black people only ever get pissed off at white people?), killing Jews, whatever.
Now I wanna read more about WWII atrocities and hug my cat.
I had no idea the numbers on the arms of concentration camp inmates were from a code that would designate how they would die. Christ.
sliderr21, if you seriously consider everyone before the twentieth century to be too stupid to have noticed that some people who stood around people with diseases or who handled their artifacts might also get sick, then please explain the isolation of plague victims going back to at least the Romans. Furthermore, there are documents indicating that intentional infection with smallpox via blankets was carried out by British commanders during the French and Indian War (lord Jeffrey Amherstm researcher: d'Errico).
Also, as DunatadaMan explained, corporations are artificial people, so if it makes you feel better, imagine that they're suing a really old guy names Siemens, because legally, they are. And I assure you that every capitalist you ever meet wants corporations to be considered artificial individuals and will call you a commie pinko for suggesting otherwise. It's that status that provides legal protection to the humans making up this artificial individual.
sliderr21: The reason people can still sue these companies, and the reason these companies still have to pay isn't because the people in charge of the company should be held responsible, it's because corporations are individually considered an entity in and of themselves.
That entity is considered ethically and legally responsible for its action into eternity, even if those responsible for the actions are no longer with the company.
If the company wants to be separate from the actions of those within it, then that unfortunately makes those within it responsible for their own actions. Something that would lead them to getting personally sued into poverty for giving people cancer.
While I agree the people in charge of these companies have no responsibility for the past, if they want the protection of the company for their current actions, they have to also accept those responsibilities.
@kai5757: sorry to rain on ur little speech, but i really felt like relieving myself. First of all, are you f*****g serious? biological warfare on such a massive scale 200 years ago when most people believed they could cure diseases with snake oil? The belief that the government handed out blankets laden with smallpox is not only incredibly false, but also IMPOSSIBLE. Im going to skip all the atrocities committed by the natives here or else id be as long winded as you. So how about, if your so sorry, give them your land, your house, your money, an for god's sake your f*****g computer. Finally, the idea that people or companies should be responsible for the actions of their forbears is just crazy. The current representatives of these companies didn't do s**t, they didnt make those decisions, they didn't make those mistakes, why the hell should they be held accountable? You want to us people's tax money to prosecute people who were not in control of the company at the time of the war? and most likely were not old to even be a part of the company? Some 50 year old guy becomes CEO of one of these companies and you want to sue the s**t out of him because of something the company did when basically there was a completely different EVERYBODY working there? really?
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Zyklon gas ovens? Really? Thats pretty fucked up. And kind of funny, but mostly fucked up.