The Nazi Billions Hidden in Plain Sight

BMW, Volkswagen, Allianz and Dr. Oetker are all household names – but how did these German businesses get to be so wealthy? The reality of collaboration, collusion, and the active championing of Hitler and the Nazi regime – during World War II, and beyond – by corporations remains “happily ignored”. So how have global powers let them get away with it? Jelena Sofronijevic talks to financial journalist David de Jong, author of author of Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties. 

• “The businessmen that I write about pressured Jewish businessmen to sell assets far under their value or there would be more dire repercussions.”
• “The vast majority of Germany’s business community went through this very flawed legal process called de-Nazification. This saw millions of criminals get off scot-free for their crimes.”
• “There were farcical legal proceedings that saw Nazi war criminals exonerated.”
• “The allied thinking that they needed to have a financially West Germany also led to those businessmen keeping their assets.”
• “Most of the characters in my book are sheer opportunists.”
• “As we get further away from the atrocities of the Third Reich, this history is receding.”
• “As consumers the bare minimum we should expect from these families is that they’re transparent.”

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Written and presented by Jelena Sofronijevic. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis Producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Jade Bailey. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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