10 Companies That Did Business With Nazis
9. BMW
During World War II, BMW’s workforce was made up of slave labor provided by the Nazis. Various sources indicate the number of slaves was as high as 50,000. These slaves churned out weapons and ammunition for the war effort. Hundreds of them died, many killed. In one of the plants an execution area was found and in another there were reports of a polish man who was hanged in front of 50 other inmates as a warning. At the time, BMW was owned by Gunther Quandt, who along with his son Herbert were close to Hitler and his regime. The Quandts profited immensely from the war, as they were given multiple businesses seized from jews that were enslaved. BMW factories had exclusive rights to build aircraft and motorcycle parts for the Nazis; many prisoners were put to work on the Luftwaffe engines, such as the BMW 132.
