Continental Commissions Curious Study About Its Own Nazi History

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Continental commissioned an independent researcher to see what it was up to in the 1940s, with the auto parts supplier issuing a press release detailing the results.

“The study shows that Continental was an important part of Hitler’s war machine,” said CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart, before adding, “We commissioned the study in order to gain more clarity about the darkest chapter in our company’s history. That’s why we specifically included those companies that were not part of Continental at the time. The study is a consciously chosen opportunity and a renewed motive for us to face up to our responsibility and, on the basis of past experiences, to understand our identity more clearly and to create a better future.”

The company has decided to not only “take responsibility” for acts committed 70-plus years ago, but to also include businesses that were complicit with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP/Nazi) long before they joined its ranks.

While we appreciate anyone taking an active interest in automotive history, any German conglomerate with an industrial history dating back to 1933 or before has a good chance of having an incredibly dark stain on their permanent record.

Daimler, Volkswagen, and BMW all held ties to the Nazi regime and utilized forced labor (slaves) during World War II. While this issue is infrequently brought up, it’s not exactly being hidden from the public either. For example, Daimler has a page devoted to the period on its corporate website and previously offered aid to the surviving workers whose rights it violated via various foundations.

Even though this study could be chalked up to some empty virtue signaling on behalf of Continental, the company said it was about showing how vulnerable businesses are to social and political corruption. Considering how easily firms are swayed by the media or present-day social movements, that’s probably not a bad idea — and extremely timely to boot.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and VW were recently accused by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute of using forced labor in Asia after discovering the Chinese Communist Party was transporting thousands of Uighurs out of concentration camps in Xinjiang to work at various facilities. That study also named Adidas, Apple, Gap, Geely Auto, Huawei, Mitsubishi, Nike, Samsung, Sony, and more to prove how widespread the matter had become. Even General Motors and its Chinese partners were said to have connections to the scandal.

Continental’s history lesson, conducted by Prof. Paul Erker of LMU Munich, didn’t mention the China connection, but did name-drop industry partners VDO, Teves, Phoenix, and Semperit — saying they were “the backbone of the National Socialist armaments and war economy” through the last World War:

According to the study, Continental used a total of around 10,000 forced laborers during the Second World War. Their number fluctuated substantially. Their origins were diverse and ranged from Italian “young fascists” to temporary workers from occupied Belgium and French and Russian prisoners of war. Gradually, the nature of their deployment became more and more radical. In the final years of the war, for example, it was concentration camp prisoners who were used in the production of gas masks and in the relocation of production underground. These people were subjected to inhumane living and working conditions. The Continental management was actively involved in this process and contributed to the gradual radicalization of the mobilized workforce. “At Continental there were no ominous signs of a systematic system of repression, but nevertheless there were dynamics of their own on the part of individual functionaries,” comments Erker in the study on the use of forced labor in the company. In this context, he also documents Continental’s involvement in shoe testing tracks, where concentration camp prisoners were exploited and maltreated to the point of debilitation and death.

“This shows how corporate cultures can quickly topple under pressure from political regimes and opposing social influences,” said Dr. Ariane Reinhart, Continental Executive Board member for Human Relations. “For this reason, corporate cultures must be constantly re-examined, strengthened and continuously developed. This includes a healthy culture of remembrance in order to draw from the past the certainty for our identity today and the lessons for the present and future.”

Continental said it wishes to be extremely clear about its own history, noting that some of its current subsidiaries tussled with the Nazi regime more than others. It also stressed that it needed a “starting point for stimulating a debate on corporate social responsibility and for integrating it internally into our corporate strategy.” While we’re not sure how useful (or wise) carrying around a bunch of corporate guilt is going to be for a business that embraced the banality of evil several generations prior, using its historical knowledge to avoid finding itself embracing similar behaviors today is something that’s incredibly easy to endorse.

Western companies currently allow themselves to to be corrupted by totalitarian regimes, and we’re kind of hoping that was Continental’s point here — rather than just trying to score brownie points by reminding everyone that the Nazis were bad. Even though we know the business is having a rough go of it at the moment, we wouldn’t want to be so cynical as to presume this was all in service of gaining media attention. Continental at least has decided to sponsor the new Siegmund Seligmann Scholarship, which promotes research on economic and corporate history during the Nazi era, and create a commemorative plaque with the names of the forced laborers uncovered in the research.

[Images: Continental]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Sceptic Sceptic on Aug 28, 2020

    We are seeing history repeating itself today in the vast corporate support of terrorist groups such as BLM. There is nothing new under the sun.

    • See 2 previous
    • Charliej Charliej on Aug 28, 2020

      @Arthur Dailey Thinking is not something that Trump supporters are used to doing. Therefore they are not very good at it.

  • Schmitt trigger Schmitt trigger on Aug 28, 2020

    @Sceptic: Care to elaborate how did you reach the conclusion that corporate interests are supporting terrorist groups?

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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