“Only on his deathbed did repentance come to Henry Ford. When, at the end of World War II, he watched a film about the atrocities of the Nazis in the concentration camps, facing the monstrous consequences of anti-Semitism, he had a blow - the last and the hardest …”.
This is an excerpt from "Hitler and Ford" by Robert Lacey.
What connected the leader of the National Socialists and the US auto mogul? What kind of repentance does the author write about?
As you know, the father of German Nazism and the Fuhrer of the German nation, Adolf Hitler, to put it mildly, disliked Jews. Multimillionaire Henry Ford experienced similar feelings. But, at the time when the young German made his fiery speeches in Munich pubs, his wealthy American like-minded person was already crushing the Jews in the articles of his newspaper "Dearborn Independent". Ford's book International Jewry has been translated into 16 languages and has a US circulation of 500,000! This book will appear in Germany in 1921 and will become, perhaps, the first book in popularity in Germany until the age of 34, after which “Mein Kampf” will take over the palm. In his work, Hitler repeatedly quoted Ford's book.
It is curious that the first articles by Ford, later included in "International Jewry", are published two months after the official approval of the NSDAP program ("25 points"), namely on May 22, 1920. Only the National Socialists officially approved the clearly anti-Semitic points (point 4) of their program, immediately the thought and printing presses of Henry Ford begin to work like a conveyor belt. Coincidence?
Not surprisingly, Hitler calls Ford's grandfather (60 years old in 1923) "his idol" and "source of inspiration."
Why does Irish American Ford get such a dislike for Jews?
Ford acquired the Dearborn Independent in 1918 and invited Edwin Pipp to participate in its publication. Here is an excerpt from J. Benitto's book "The Lie That Doesn't Want to Die":
There is a great need for kindness, Ford said, "and we will try to make the world kinder, to spread the idea of tolerance."
Pipp felt a surge of inspiration. Ford's words lifted him above everyday life, opened up new horizons. He felt that with this person he would be able to reach true heights, give vent to his secret desire to seriously change the world. Pipp knew that Ford's activities were not limited to the production of cars, but for the first time he had to experience the influence of Ford's personality, his energy, his ideas.
"I want Dearborn to become known to the world as a city where they do good, where they preach the brotherhood of people," Ford announced. Good feelings should be extended to all races and all religions.
Strange words for an ideologue of Nazism, isn't it? “Ideas of tolerance”, “to make the world kinder”, “brotherhood of people”.
Where is the breeding ground for National Socialist number one?
Less than 2 years later, on May 22, 1920, Ford's thought reverses 180 degrees. The first attacks on Jews begin.
Why is Ford's position changing so dramatically? Moreover, it changes repeatedly. Judge for yourself:
- 1918 - "Ideas of Tolerance" and "Brotherhood of Men"
- May 22, 1920 - first anti-Semitic articles
- In 1922 - the anti-Jewish campaign, led by the Dearborn Independent, ended as suddenly as it began
- In April 1924 - attacks on Jews resumed;
- July 7, 1927 - Ford publishes his apology in the press:
"I consider it my duty, the duty of an honest man, to correct the evil done to the Jews, my compatriots and brothers, asking them for forgiveness for the harm that I unintentionally brought them, and, taking back, as far as I am in my power, erected on them by my publications offensive accusations, as well as unconditionally assuring them that from now on they can count on my friendship and goodwill. I will make it clear in ways that I certainly do not approve of them and that from now on the leadership of the Dearborn Independent will ensure that articles denigrating Jews never appear on the pages of this publication."
Don't you think this is strange? How can a man like Ford change his views so often and radically? This is how articles in a newspaper can change, which performs a specific task, but this way a person's beliefs cannot change.
There is only one conclusion - Ford really hates Jews, but when necessary, he lies and covers himself with beautiful phrases. There is one good reason for Ford's dislike of Jews - the desire for financial independence “The finances of the whole world are under the control of the Jews; their decisions become economic laws for us”. - asserted in one of the articles of the Dearborn Independent. Ford fought a group of Wall Street financiers, not only in the pages of his newspapers and books, but in real life. Historians believe that many of his thoughts on Jewish financiers arose from personal meetings with them. The most violent conflicts between Ford and the Gesheftmachers occurred in early 1921. He then had to face certain financial difficulties. There were persistent rumors that Wall Street intended to "bring him to his knees."
Although some researchers attribute the emergence of dislike of Jews to the influence of Ford's personal secretary, Ernest Gustav Liebold.
The influence of Liebold on Ford was also noted by Edwin Pipp:
Liebold leaned back in his chair, unbuttoned his jacket, thrust his thumbs under the waistcoat, puffed out his chest and announced:
"Mr. Ford, you don't need to think the way others think; your thoughts come, like insights, from the subconscious - and all problems are immediately solved."
As simple as that. And anti-Semitic articles straight from the subconscious to the print shop.
Who was E. Liebold?
Ford began communicating with Liebold in 1911. At that time, Liebold already had a lot of experience and soon became the head of a number of Ford enterprises. He became his kazanich and his right hand. Liebold really had German roots, since his father was an immigrant from Germany.
German footprint?
Max Wallace, in his book American Axis, claims that Liebold was a German spy. By the way, the official representatives in response to the publication of the Ford Motor Company did not deny this information.
However, in order to be a German spy, it is not enough to be German. The German spy who influences Ford and forces him to write anti-Semitic articles and books must be led by an anti-Semite and a nationalist. But Hitler became the leader of the NSDAP only on July 29, 1920. At that time, the NSDAP not only did not have its own agents, but even a place for meetings, in general, without tears, it was impossible to look at the Nazis of that time. Ford's anti-Semitic articles came out earlier, and influence is not a matter of a couple of weeks, but months and years. It turns out that there was simply no one to recruit or introduce Libold in the United States with the aim of promoting anti-Semitic ideas. It is difficult to assume that agents of imperial Germany could have spread anti-Semitic ideas in the United States.
Here the theory of the German spy does not stand up to scrutiny.
Helping the Nazis
It is more curious to understand what kind of assistance Henry Ford provided to the Nazi Reich.
And he spared no effort. Not only did Ford flood the entire United States and Europe with anti-Semitic literature, even when the future leaders of Nazism were taking their first steps, he did everything that was necessary for the young Reich.
In 1929 the construction of the Ford plant began in Cologne. By the late 1930s, Ford had become Germany's fourth-largest automaker. Most of the shares were owned by Ford Motor Company. Since 1942, the plant has produced exclusively trucks, among which the Rhein-LKW (Maultier), a three-ton wheeled-tracked truck for the needs of the Wehrmacht, stands out.
The photo shows the same car, but converted into an armored personnel carrier. By the way, these vehicles had good maneuverability and were developed specifically for the Eastern Front.
On the eve of World War II, Ford invested $ 17.5 million in the German economy
During the war, Ford's company supplied the Allied army with bombers, aircraft engines, tanks, anti-tank installations and other equipment. That, however, did not stop him from supplying Rommel's army in North Africa with armored personnel carriers, which were used in battles with the British army, as the US Consul in Algeria Felix Cole reported to the State Department on July 1, 1942.
There was no reaction there, because Washington knew very well about this blood business. The American economist Henry Waldman wrote in The New York Times on February 26, 1943: "We represent a nation providing active economic assistance to the enemy we are at war with." However, attempts by Harold Ickes, the US Secretary of the Interior, to take the traitorous concerns by the throat, have led nowhere. It seems that President Roosevelt himself poked at him.
Nothing personal, just business
As in the best traditions of democratic conquest today, they did the same at that time. If Mikhail Gorbachev says everything right, then he is rewarded and protected.
On July 30, 1938 (on his grandfather's 75th birthday), Henry Ford was awarded the Iron Cross of the German Eagle - the highest award of Nazi Germany for foreigners!
The same award was once awarded to: Benito Mussolini, Thomas Watson (head of IBM), James Mooney (head of General Motors).
Subsequently, the Reich Minister of Economy of Germany, Yalomir Schacht, in an interview with the American doctor Gilbert during the Nuremberg trials, said:
“If you want to indict the industrialists who helped rearm Germany, you must indict yourself. The Opel car plant, for example, produced nothing but military products. This plant was owned by your General Motors.
As you know, the Nuremberg Tribunal found J. Schacht innocent.
All the more cynical is Khrushchev's lie that Stalin allegedly told him tete-a-tete in some "free conversations": "If the United States had not helped us, we would not have won this war."
As a result, the US leadership, singing with the banking clique, acted cynically and treacherously not only with its allies, but also with its own people, burying them in German and Japanese soil for the interests of capital. This situation cannot be called anything but genocide! Time to talk about the criminal regime.
The iron cross of the German eagle on the chest of Ford and others is a reflection of the contribution of the United States, not only to the defeat of Nazi Germany, but to its formation!
