There is this Danish guy Soerensen, he spent a few years in a slave labor factory which was owned by a man (Quandt) who managed to escape prosecution, and survived the war with 67 mill in pocket. Soerensen was snubbed every time he tried to speak with the Quandts. The Quandts are now one of the world’s richest families. Are you surprised Soerensen is angry?

There is the Laval family in Belgium, who used to be one of Europe’s foremost makers of batteries. Mr Laval survived the Hohenschönhausen concentration camp but his family feels justice has not been done. Neither do I.

Well, actually, Japan has apologized numerous times to most of the different groups they attacked during WWII and they did, indeed, have a “moral” obligation to do so. (Of course, when you lose a war, that makes it it easier, too.)

Combined with the unreliable mediocrities coming from Detroit, the apologies made it more a lot more palatable for lots of people to buy Japanese.

And slave labor compinsation fund? You gotta be kidding me.

No kidding.

The West German government has offered similar apologies to different groups who suffered because of WWII, including compensation funds set up for concentration camp victims and their families, although they’re really pretty meager.

The U.S. has formally apologized to people of Japanese decent, most of whom were U.S. citizens, who were held in concentration camps and they were eventually provided with meager, symbolic compensation for being deprived of their civil rights and the hardships they endured.

“Using that logic, I guess I shouldn’t but a Japanese car becasue of Pearl Harbor.”

Actually, that was one of the reasons that I grew up in a Ford/Mercury family, and why my dad never got me one of those “Walkmans” when I really, really wanted one, and why we had an old RCA television.

Old Henry Ford was notorious for his anti-Semitism and refusing to hire Jews to work at his factory. Henry Ford was real buddy-buddy with Adolph Hitler. Hitler copied large chunks of “Mein Kampf” from the writings of Henry Ford. After WWII the Ford Motor Company issued formal apologies to the Jewish community, contributed to Jewish charities and funds to help WWII Jewish refugees, and made a point of hiring Jews. Even so, for many years there were many Jews who would not purchase Ford products.

Actually, that was one of the reasons that I grew up in a Ford/Mercury family, and why my dad never got me one of those “Walkmans” when I really, really wanted one, and why we had an old RCA television. Also one of the reasons (maybe the only reason) why GM is doing so well in China.

Good grief…

They (the Quandt family) should have to apologize because, through inheritance, they have directly benefited from their ancestors having sent a competitor to the concentration camp and eliminating that competitor. It’s not like they drove the competitor out of business because they had a better product.

They have also directly benefited, again through inheritance, from their ancestors’ use of wartime slave labor that helped to build BMW into the profitable powerhouse company it is today. They did not earned the fortune themselves through hard work and merit, and their ancestors did not earn the fortune through fair and moral means.

The Quandt family’s fortune and the BMW Corporation is built upon a foundation of moral rot! (Of course they are not the only ones and these situations are quite common among those who have family fortunes and among many successful corporations.)

If I had inherited a part of a fabulous family fortune earned through unethical means, I’d be apologizing all over the place (while hanging onto that fortune).

RF and MS are both right. While the Quandts have no LEGAL obligation to do so, from both a moral perspective and from a P.R. perspective, it would make sense to apologize and come up with some cash for reparations.

Besdies, they’ll probably be able to claim it as a tax deduction or as a cost of doing business which they can pass along to their shareholders and employees.

It’s not like it will personally cost the Quandt family very much, if anything, in monetary terms. The bottom line is really all that matters. Isn’t it?

And slave labor compinsation fund? You gotta be kidding me.

It wasn’t beneath the Pope to apologize for what his church allowed to happen during WW2. Why be so pleasant to the (minority) owners of BMW, who are rumored to have intentions to make big investments in Daimler?

Of course, the Quandt family is under no legal obligation to apologize for anything. But they do want people like me to buy the cars that their company makes. Now, why would I do that?

So, if my grandfather (or father) did something bad I am supposed to apologize?

Personally, I would have no problem apologizing for my father or grandfather if he’d committed war crimes or crimes against humanity. That would be especially true if I was living large as the [partial] result of his nefarious deeds.

I don’t want to get all hung-up on the personal apology thing. This issue is a lot wider than a “sins of the father” discussion.

The Quandts ARE BMW. And I believe that a corporation has a moral obligation to make reparations for the damage they created– no matter how far back in the past it may go.

Good grief…