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The RVM remained sidelined from construction of the largest single Nazi transportation project: the Autobahn. In July 1933, Fritz Todt was directly appointed by Adolf Hitler to build the huge road system quickly, and Transport Minister Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach thought it prudent not to complain at this obvious bypass of his authority. [6]
German manufacturers produced touring buses for the non-car-owning public, [92] and the Volkswagen (then called the KdF-Wagen, Strength Through Joy car, for the Nazi recreation organization) was developed and marketed in association with the autobahn to promote car ownership; Hitler first publicly called for its development at the opening of ...
The Volkswagen was sold to German workers on an installment plan, where buyers of the car made payments and posted stamps in a stamp-savings book, which, when full, would be redeemed for the car. Due to the shift of wartime production, no private citizen ever received a KdF-Wagen , although after the war, Volkswagen did give some customers a ...
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess made the comment "ebit macht frei," a play on a Nazi-era slogan during an internal company event. The phrase "arbeit macht frei" or work sets you free hung above the ...
Volkswagen (VW; German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡn̩] ⓘ) [Note 1] is a German automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by The German Labour Front , it was revitalized into the global brand it is today after World War II by British Army officer Ivan Hirst .
Volkswagen Group owns a test track facility in Ehra-Lessien, some 18 km (11 mi) north of its Wolfsburg factory. The facility was built during the Cold War . The location was chosen because, at the time, it was in a no-fly zone only 10 km (6.2 mi) west of the border between East Germany and West Germany , and thus secret prototypes could be ...
The Volkswagen Type 82 Kübelwagen (listen ⓘ), or simply Kübel, [2] contractions of the original German word Kübelsitzwagen (translated: 'bucket-seat car' — but when the contractions are translated literally a back-formation of 'bucket' or 'tub'-car results), [3] is a military light utility vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Volkswagen during World War II for use by the ...
Like Swiss banks, American car companies deny helping the Nazi war machine or profiting from forced labor at their German subsidiaries during World War II. [9] "General Motors was far more important to the Nazi war machine than Switzerland," according to Bradford Snell. "The Nazis could have invaded Poland and Russia without Switzerland.