Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich

This powerful book examines the Daimler-Benz company-one of Germany's most important armament and automobile manufacturers-from its formation in 1926 to the end of World War II and reveals for the first time its close association with the Third Reich. It is a timely contribution to the history of collaboration between German business and the Nazis.

Acknowledgements

ix

(2)

Abbreviations

xi

I. Introduction

1

(15)

II. Fusion and Crisis: Daimler-Benz in the 1920s

16

(20)

1. The Reception of Fordism by the German Automobile Industry

2. Rational Production and its Limits in the 1920s

3. The Depression Years

III. Rearming the Reich: Daimler-Benz in the 1930s

36

(40)

1. The Economic Boom

2. The Four Year Plan and the Schell Programme

3. Daimler-Benz and Rearmament 1926-39

a) Covert Rearmament 1926-32

b) Rearmament at Marienfelde 1933-9

c) Production for the Luftwaffe 1933-9

d) The South German Plants

IV. Profit and Plunder: Daimler-Benz in the Second World War -- An Overview

76

(33)

1. Mobilization and the `Blitzkrieg economy' 1939-41

2. Expansion and Expansionism: Daimler-Benz and the New Order 1940-4

3. The Speer Period and the `Production Miracle' 1942-4

4. `Total War' and Post-War Planning 1943-5

V. Chaos and Improvization: Armaments Production during the War

109

(41)

1. Arming the Luftwaffe: Daimler-Benz Motoren GmbH Genshagen 1939-45

a) Mobilization and Stagnation 1939-41

b) The Industrial Council and the Ring System

c) The `Production Miracle' 1942-4

d) Production under Licence 1941-4

2. Strategies for Survival: Lorry Production at Mannheim 1939-45

a) Lorry Production and the `Blitzkrieg Economy'

b) The Opel Licence 1942-5

VI. Big Business and Racial Barbarism: Labour at Daimler-Benz 1939-45

150

(68)

1. Company Social Policy 1939-45

2. The German Labour Front and Company Social Policy 1939-45

3. Prisoners of War, Forced Foreign Workers and Concentration Camp Labour at Daimler-Benz 1940-5

a) Prisoners of War and West European Workers

b) Soviet Prisoners of War and Civilian Deportees

c) Concentration Camp Labour 1943-5

4. Business, Racial Barbarism and the New Order: The Flugmotorenwerk Rzeszow 1939-44

a) The Rzeszow Plant under Henschel GmbH 1939-41

b) Polish Forced Labour and the Daimler-Benz Management 1941-4

c) The Racial Hierarchy Completed: Daimler-Benz and Jewish Forced Labour 1942-4

VII. Business, Racial Barbarism and Self-Preservation: The Dispersal of Production 1943-5

218

(29)

1. Overview

2. The Dispersal of Sindelfingen

a) Surface Dispersal

b) Underground Dispersal: Project `Brasse'

c) Underground Dispersal: Project `Jaspis'

3. The Dispersal of Mannheim

4. Total Destruction and `Zero Hour'? The Success of the Dispersal Programme

VIII. Conclusions

247

(6)

Bibliography

253

(17)

Index

270

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Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich

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Table of Contents

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