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steel, and electrical industry cartels, rather than directly from individual industrialists. In
1928 Henry Ford merged his German assets with those of the I.G. Farben chemical cartel. A
substantial holding, 40 percent of Ford Motor A.G. of Germany, was transferred to I.G.
Farben; Carl Bosch of I.G. Farben became head of Ford A.G. Motor in Germany.
Simultaneously, in the United States Edsel Ford joined the board of American I.G. Farben.
(See Chapter Two.)
Henry Ford Receives a Nazi Medal
A decade later, in August 1938 after Hitler had achieved power with the aid of the cartels
Henry Ford received the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, a Nazi decoration for
distinguished foreigners. The New York Times reported it was the first time the Grand Cross
had been awarded in the United States and was to celebrate Henry Ford's 75th birthday.8
The decoration raised a storm of criticism within Zionist circles in the U.S. Ford backed off
to the extent of publicly meeting with Rabbi Leo Franklin of Detroit to express his
sympathy for the plight of German Jews:
My acceptance of a medal from the German people [said Ford] does not, as
some people seem to think, involve any sympathy on my part with naziism.
Those who have known me for many years realize that anything that breeds
hate is repulsive to me.9
The Nazi medal issue was picked up in a Cleveland speech by Secretary of Interior Harold
Ickes. Ickes criticized both Henry Ford and Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh for accepting
Nazi medals. The curious part of the Ickes speech, made at a Cleveland Zionist Society
banquet, was his criticism of "wealthy Jews" and their acquisition and use of wealth:
A mistake made by a non-Jewish millionaire reflects upon him alone, but a
false step made by a Jewish man of wealth reflects upon his whole race. This is
harsh and unjust, but it is a fact that must be faced.10
Perhaps Ickes was tangentially referring to the roles of the Warburgs in the I.G. Farben
cartel: Warburgs were on the board of I.G. Farben in the U.S. and Germany. In 1938 the
Warburgs were being ejected by the Nazis from Germany. Other German Jews, such as the
Oppenheim bankers, made their peace with the Nazis and were granted "honorary Aryan
status."
Ford Motor Company Assists the German War Effort
A post-war Congressional subcommittee investigating American support for the Nazi
military effort described the manner in which the Nazis succeeded in obtaining U.S.
technical and financial assistance as "quite fantastic.11 Among other evidence the
Committee was shown a memorandum prepared in the offices of Ford-Werke A.G. on
November 25, 1941, written by Dr. H. F. Albert to R. H. Schmidt, then president of the
board of Ford-Werke A.G. The memo cited the advantages of having a majority of the
German firm held by Ford Motor Company in Detroit. German Ford had been able to
exchange Ford parts for rubber and critical war materials needed in 1938 and 1939 "and
they would not have been able to do that if Ford had not been owned by the United States."
Further, with a majority American interest German Ford would "more easily be able to step
in and dominate the Ford holdings throughout Europe." It was even reported to the
Committee that two top German Ford officials had been in a bitter personal feud about who
was to control Ford of England, such "that one of them finally got up and left the room in
disgust."
According to evidence presented to the Committee, Ford-Werke A.G. was technically
transformed in the late 1930s into a German company. All vehicles and their parts were
produced in Germany, by German workers using German materials under German direction
and exported to European and overseas territories of the United States and Great Britain.
Any needed foreign raw materials, rubber and nonferrous metals, were obtained through the
American Ford Company. American influence had been more or less converted into a
supporting position (Hilfsstellung) for the German Ford plants.
At the outbreak of the war Ford-Werke placed itself at the disposal of the Wehrmacht for
armament production. It was assumed by the Nazis that as long as Ford-Werke A.G. had an
American majority, it would be possible to bring the remaining European Ford companies
under German influence i.e., that of Ford-Werke A.G. and so execute Nazi "Greater
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