Just seen a 30min docco on Discovery. I thought it would be heralding and applauding the Beetle's success over the decades, but a far more sinister picture was conveyed! Although VW continue to this day to claim that production started in 1948, the truth is the car was built during WW2 by slave labour (Poles and Russians primarily).
Now I know that many many atrocities took place during the war years, but I had always naively assumed that the Wolfsburg factory was not knocking-out Beetles using slave labour.
Quite sinister how the city and the factory continue to refuse to acknowledge this truth to this day?!
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Yes
I read/watched a programme that stated the Beetle shell was discovered in a bombed factory by British Officials after WW2, we then gave it back to the Germans becasue the offcials didnt think that the design/shell would be good enough for a car.
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VW has a long and dishonourable tradition of using immigrant labour which it hires and fires at will.
Nissan in the UK has been doing something similar in the last few years, except it uses indigenous labour and short-term contracts.
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Actually the British military, under the direction of Major Ivan Hirst, wanted to get production of the Beetle underway to alleviate the misery in Germany at the time. The kubelwagen was the first vehicle assembled, ordered by the US Army, when the factory was in the US zone. Then came a shift in the zones, so British engineers were involved. Despite UK manufacturers disdain, a simple robust car was exactly what was needed. Indeed, British army ordered 20,000 in 1945. My father drove one in preference to UK staff cars - it would start in sub-zero conditions:) Story in detail in "The British and their Works" by Markus Lupa part of the Historical Notes from the Corporate History Department of Volkswagen AG.
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A link to the slave labour aspect, from the VW archives: tinyurl.com/29ro2bm And Major Hirst role: tinyurl.com/24lb24l
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Didn't VW have to pay an enormous sum to Tatra for copying their design?
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Yep, that delighful little aircooled ' Kewer' (ie beetle) has its roots in a 30s design.
But after churning out a few Beetles for propaganada purposes ("ja, for chust 10 Reichmarks a week, you can have...") they started producing the kubelwagen and the excellent schwimmwagen for the military.
Great design on that engine - ran in minus a squillion degrees in Russia, and at plus a squillion degrees in North Africa.
Go and google pics of the 40s kubelwagen, the type 191 Thing from the 70s, and the Mk1 golf convertible, and see the bloodlines flowing, especially in that folding hood.
Last edited by: Ian (Cape Town) on Mon 4 Oct 10 at 03:48
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The Beetle is actually a copy of a small Tatra - one of the (supposed) reasons why Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia was to stop them suing. If it's true then the Beetle could have been a contributing factor to the start of WWII.
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Volkswagen Beetle original - Documentary on Discovery - Redviper
