A new book reveals how a group of wealthy German industrialists thrived during the Third Reich – and afterward too. Author David de Jong explains why some firms still haven’t faced up to their wartime sins
There’s a beaten-up Volkswagen Beetle I pass most days while walking the dog. It used to be a pleasurable sight: a throwback to a time when cars were lovingly designed, rather than today when they have all the charisma of an IKEA catalog.
But then I read David de Jong’s book “Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties” – and now I have to resist the urge to smash a side-view mirror every time I pass the damned jalopy. Disney’s Herbie may have associated the “pregnant roller skate” with the number 53, but the number I keep wanting to daub on this particular car’s dusty surface now is 88 – the neo-Nazis’ numerical abbreviation for the “Heil Hitler” salute.
