BMW’s Ties to the Third Reich
“Love is meant for husbands, but my love for Hitler is stronger, I would give my life for it.”
—Magda Goebbels (née Ritschel, formerly Quandt)
Much has been written about the infamous Quandt family—descendants still control a major stake of BMW (as well as several other large other German industrial businesses). What is less well known, however, is the complex Quandt family history and their various ties to Hitler’s Germany. The family is also inextricably linked to BMW’s post-war survival and spectacular rise from the ashes. Many of the facts surrounding the Quandt’s involvement with Nazi Germany are unclear and the subject of debate. Since the end of World War II, the history of the Quandt family has been shrouded in secrecy. The family has remained largely silent about their historical involvement with Nazi Germany. Today questions are still being asked about the wartime profits their family received during the Third Reich.
In October 2007, a one-hour award-winning film called The Silence of the Quandts was quietly aired in Germany. The documentary uncovered various associations and benefits that Quandt-related businesses enjoyed under Hitler’s regime. The film spurred the family to perform a formal research investigation into the behavior of Quandt family businesses during the Third Reich. Published in 2011, the study uncovered, among other things, the use of slave labor and the appropriation of Jewish assets. Some of the more aggressive claims against the family are speculation and conjecture—eighty years later many of the facts are hard to prove without reliable documentation. However, there is one interesting family fact that is not in dispute—and not widely known by modern BMW enthusiasts. Günther Quandt’s second wife (and mother of their son Harald) ultimately married the notorious Joseph Goebbels—one of the most powerful and prominent Nazis of the Third Reich.
Gunther Quandt, 1881-1954
The Quandt dynasty began in 1883 when Emil Quandt took over a textile company from his father-in-law. Günther Quandt was Emil’s son and became a wealthy German industrialist who built up his father’s businesses and assembled an even larger industrial business empire. His first wife was Antonie ‘Toni’ Ewald. They had two sons, Helmut Quandt and Herbert Quandt. Antonie died of the Spanish flu in 1918 and their young son Helmut died in 1927. Following the death of his first wife, Günther re-married to Magda Behrend Ritschel in 1921. His new wife was almost half Günthers age. Their marriage produced another son, Harald Quandt. Günther and Magda ultimately divorced in 1929. Two years later, in 1931, Magda married again—to Joseph Goebbels. Curiously, their wedding took place on a grand property that belonged to Günther Quandt. A rising political activist named Adolf Hitler served as the best man.
Joseph Goebbels joined the Nazi party in 1924 and was a rising star in the very early days of Adolph Hitler’s NSDAP (National Socialist Workers Party). Four years after marrying Magda, Joseph climbed to a position of influence and power and ultimately became propaganda minister of the Third Reich. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Joseph moved quickly to consolidate and control information and the media. Joseph Goebbels was instrumental in turning the 1936 Berlin Olympics into a Nazi spectacle. He was a master of propaganda and a manipulator of information. Within the inner circle of Hitler’s evil henchmen, Joseph Goebbels ultimately emerged as one of Hitler’s most powerful and trusted confidantes.
He greatly influenced Adolf Hitler and brainwashed the German people through powerful media. His beautiful wife Magda relished power and fame and was obsessed with Adolph Hitler until the day she died. Given the fact that Hitler himself was unmarried, many Germans considered Magda the surrogate first lady of Germany.
Harald Quandt, 1921-1967
Magda and Joseph Goebbels had six children. The young Harald Quandt was eventually adopted by Joseph Goebbels and was raised with his half-siblings. Harald ultimately grew closer to his stepfather than to his own father Günther Quandt. For many years Harald lived happily with his mother and stepfather. Harald often referred to Joseph Goebbels as “Papa.” Many years later, as the Third Reich was disintegrating and Allied and Russian troops encircled Berlin, Adolf Hitler’s fate (and that of the Goebbels family) was sealed. Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide together in the Reichschancellory bunker on April 30th, 1945. Hitler’s will designated Joseph Goebbels as his successor and named him Chancellor of Germany. He served twenty-four hours in this post before also taking his own life. In an act of horrific proportions, Magda poisoned their six young children with cyanide and then committed suicide herself. She was quoted as saying that, “We will take them with us because they are too good, too lovely for the world which lies ahead.”
Below are the goodbye notes that Joseph and Magda Goebbels sent to Harald Quandt only days before Adolf Hitler and the Goebbels family killed themselves.
As a young adult in 1939, Harald volunteered to join the Germany army. He ultimately became a German soldier and fought in Greece, France, and Russia. He was injured by gunfire in Italy and subsequently sent to the British Army POW camp in Benghazi. The two letters below were delivered by post to Harald while he was being detained by the British in April 1945:
Letter from Dr. Joseph Goebbels to his stepson Harald Quandt
The Führerbunker on April 28, 1945.
Dear Harald,
We are locked down in the Führerbunker at the Reichschancellory, and we are fighting for our lives and honor.
How will this fight end, God only knows, But I know it will end for us with honor and glory, dead or alive. I do not think we will see each other again. These will be the last words you will receive from me. I hope, if you come out alive from this war, that you will honor both your mother and I, as is not necessary for us to survive to influence our people.
You will be the only one left to carry on with our family traditions. Always act in a way that does not shame us.
Germany will survive this war, but only if our people has examples to guide them. and this is the example that we want to give.
You can be proud to have a mother like you have now. Last night the Führer gave her the golden party pin he has carried for years on his jacket, and I think she deserves it.
In the future, you will have only one mission: to be worthy of the great sacrifice we are willing to make. I know you will.
Don’t let the noise that the world is about to start to disorientate you.
One day, the lies will fall under their own weight, and the truth will triumph over them. The hour will come in which we will be above all, clean and without guilt like our faith and task were.
Goodbye, dear Harald!! If we meet again, it depends on God. If it is not to be, I will always be proud of having belonged to a family, that, even in adversity, and up to the last moment, has been faithful to the Führer and his pure and holy cause.
My best wishes and dearest greetings.
Papa
Letter from Magda Goebbels to her son Harald Quandt
The Führerbunker on April 28, 1945
My beloved son!
By now we have been in the Führerbunker for six days already — daddy, your six little siblings and I, for the sake of giving our national socialistic lives the only possible honorable end.
You shall know that I stayed here against daddy’s will and that even on last Sunday the Führer wanted to help me to get out. You know your mother — we have the same blood, for me, there was no wavering.
Our glorious idea is ruined and with it everything beautiful and marvelous that I have known in my life. The world that comes after the Führer and national socialism is not any longer worth living in and therefore I took the children with me, for they are too good for the life that would follow, and a merciful God will understand me when I will give them salvation (death).
You will live and I ask only one thing from you, that you never ever forget you are a German, never do against your honor, and through your life, see that our deaths won’t be in vain.
The children are wonderful … there never is a word of complaint nor crying. The explosions above are shaking the bunker. The elder kids cover the younger ones, their presence is a blessing and they are making the Führer smile once in a while.
Last night, the Führer took off his golden party pin and pinned it to me. I am proud and happy.
May God help that I have the strength to perform the last and hardest task (killing herself and her children). We only have one goal left: loyalty to the Führer even in death and to be able to end our lives with him is an honor.
Harald, my dear son — I want to give you what I learned in life: Be loyal! Loyal to yourself, loyal to the German people and loyal to your fatherland … Be proud of us and try to keep us in dear memory …
(Second page) It is difficult to start a new page, who knows if I can fill it, I would like to give you so much love and strength, and take away all the pain for our loss. Be proud of us and try to remember us with pride and happiness.
We all have to die. Isn’t it more beautiful to live less, but with honor and dignity than to have a long life in shameful conditions?
I must finish, Hanna Reitsch is taking this letter, she is leaving again, I embrace you with my most sweet, deep and maternal love.
My dear son, live for Germany!
Your Mother
“Günther Quandt didn’t have a Nazi-kind of thinking. He was looking for any opportunity to expand his personal empire.” —Rudiger Jungbluth, Author, Die Quandts
After the war, Günther Quandt (like many influential German business leaders) was arrested based on his business dealings and personal associations with Nazi officials. His company, AFA, manufactured batteries for U-Boat submarines and V-2 rockets. The Quandt-related business BKIW also produced Mauser firearms, ammunition, and anti-aircraft missiles.
The authorities ultimately determined that while Günther was a member of the Nazi party and probably benefitted from his political relationships, he was not guilty of serious war crimes. He was released in 1948 and was free to resurrect and resume his business operations. Günther Quandt re-joined the business world and gained admission to several major corporate boards (including Deutsche Bank).
He was spared the fate of many of his corporate contemporaries who served significant time for their complicit role in the criminal actions of the Nazi party. For example, management and board members of companies like IG Farben were prosecuted for turning their heads from the profitable and voluminous production of Zyklon B, the infamous toxic gas used in Himmler’s death camps.
In the late 1940’s, Harald and his older brother Herbert worked with their father to rebuild the Quandt legacy and revive the family empire.
Both Daimler and BMW were key large holdings of the family. Günther died in 1954 while on vacation in Cairo and left all his assets to Herbert and Harald. This event catapulted the financial status of the two Quandt step-brothers.
Overnight they were among the richest men in post-war Germany. The Quandt group ultimately amassed business interests in more than two-hundred companies. After the war, they made strategic and well-timed investments into BMW when it was struggling to survive.
Stefan Quandt and the family behind BMW
By 1961, BMW was firmly back on its feet. The rest is history.
“The Quandts’ business grew in the Kaiserreich, it grew during the Weimar Republic, it grew during the Second World War and it grew strongly after the war.” —Rudiger Jungbluth, Author, Die Quandts
Herbert spent his time focused on managing the automotive-related businesses and Harald took over the engineering and tooling companies.
A little-known fact is that Harald was the man behind the amphibious vehicle known as the Amphicar. It was manufactured by a Quandt-owned company called IWKA from 1961 to 1965. More recently, the Amphicar has become a regular sight at many high-profile car auctions across North America. These oddball dual-purpose vehicles can fetch up to $100,000 for correct original examples.
“The family wants to stay private.” —Fritz Becker, CEO Harold Quandt Holding GmbH
Quandt Group Amphicar, made 1961-68
Today, descendants of both Herbert and Harald are still intricately tied to BMW. Herbert’s wife, Joanna, served on BMW’s supervisory board from 1982 to 1997. She died in 2015 at the age of 89. Her children, Stefan and Susanne currently serve on BMW’s supervisory board. Four of Harald’s five daughters are still alive and are not directly involved in BMW, however, they share in the Quandt dynasty’s massive fortune.
The long and complicated story behind the Quandt family is both improbable and fascinating.
Even the ambitious and social climbing Magda Goebbels could not have imagined that her grandchildren and step-grandchildren would become billionaire owners of one of the largest and most successful industrial companies of the modern era.
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Propaganda - Goebbels' Principles
Joseph Goebbels
Dr. Joseph Goebbels, beside being an intriguing character, was the Propaganda Minister for Hitler's Third Reich. He was recognized as a master of propaganda as his work was studied after WWII. Goebbels did not survive to enjoy the recognition; he and his wife committed suicide on 1 May 1945, a week before the final collapse of the Third Reich.After the war, US personnel discovered a very large diary dictated by Goebbels. In it are his principles of propaganda. Leonard Doob's 1950 article details them from a translation of the diary by Louis Lochner (1948).
Hitler's Basic Principles
These principles are abstracted from Jowett & O'Donnell.- Avoid abstract ideas - appeal to the emotions.
- Constantly repeat just a few ideas. Use stereotyped phrases.
- Give only one side of the argument.
- Continuously criticize your opponents.
- Pick out one special "enemy" for special vilification.
Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda
When reading these propaganda principles, keep in mind that they were applied in wartime (WWII) and involve issues that don't arise otherwise. It's a long list, but Goebbels was dealing with the complexity of an all-out war. While reading them you may realize that some of the principles are generally applicable and not limited to wartime. Some might be quite familiar today. It is interesting to note that Goebbels' principles derive from Hitler's own ideas of propaganda.- Propagandists must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion.
- Propaganda must be planned and executed by only one authority.
- It must issue all the propaganda directives.
- It must explain propaganda directives to important officials and maintain their morale.
- It must oversee other agencies' activities which have propaganda consequences.
- The Propaganda consequences of an action must be considered in planning that action.
- Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and actions.
- By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which can provide the enemy with useful intelligence.
- By openly disseminating propaganda whose contents or tone causes the enemy to draw the desired conclusions.
- By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about himself.
- By making no reference to a desired enemy activity when any reference would discredit that activity.
- Declassified, operational information must be available to implement a propaganda campaign.
- To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting medium.
- Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false.
- The purpose, content, and effectiveness of enemy propaganda; the strength and effects of an expose'; and the nature of current propaganda campaigns determine whether enemy propaganda should be ignored or refuted.
- Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of communicating determine whether propaganda materials should be censored.
- Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in operations when it helps diminish that enemy's prestige or lends support to the propagandist's own objective.
- Black rather than white propaganda must be employed when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
- Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.
- Propaganda must be carefully timed.
- The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing propaganda.
- A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment.
- A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness.
- Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.
- They must evoke responses which the audience previously possesses.
- They must be capable of being easily learned.
- They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations.
- They must be boomerang-proof.
- Propaganda to the home front must prevent the raising of false hopes which can be blasted by future events.
- Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level.
- Propaganda must reinforce anxiety concerning the consequences of defeat.
- Propaganda must diminish anxiety (other than that concerning the consequences of defeat) which is too high and cannot be reduced by people themselves.
- Propaganda to the home front must diminish the impact of frustration.
- Inevitable frustrations must be anticipated.
- Inevitable frustrations must be placed in perspective.
- Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.
- Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong counter-tendencies; instead it must offer some form of action or diversion, or both.
References
- Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda, Leonard W. Doob, Public Opinion Quarterly, Fall 1950 pp. 419-442
- Propagation and Persuasion; Jowett & O'Donnell
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