Well, this did it. I will no longer see Henry Ford in the same light as I used to. I could'int possibly. Don't get me wrong it's not like he was ever an idol to me or anything, but anyone who knows even a little about Henry Ford has got to have some respect for the man.
After all, while he did not invent the automobile, he most certainly was the one person most responsible for making it affordable to the common man of his times.
And while he did'int invent industry, his ideas of mass production revolutionized the industrial era.
And at 5 bucks a day, the average Ford employee was making double that of any other auto worker, which helped to make Ford cars even more affordable to the everyday blue collar worker.

The man had faults for sure, I knew all about his stubborness, his reluctance to change with the times,("Customer's can have any color car they'd like, as long as it's black"-Henry Ford), his paranoia and suspicious nature-which actually started to cause him to have a disfuntional relationship with son Edsel.
He also hated unions.

But really, for all his faults, you still have to consider this, the guy hung out on a regular basis with such notables as Thomas Alva Edison, Warren G Harding, and Colonel Lindburgh - dude can't be that bad!

Then I found out Ford was a **** sympathizer, an anti semite, and even worse a profiteer in slave labor who produced vehicles for support of the Axis war effort during WWII.

Did you know that ole' Henry actually funded many of Hitlers **** Party rallies?
He also distributed an anti semite paper which he owned and operated right in Dearborn Mich, called the Dearborn independent.

In every issue these was a section called "The International Jew", and in this editorial were weekly proposed solutions to the problem of the "jewish question".

The International Jew was translated into German(printing paid for by Ford himself), and distributed as learning material to the Hitler Youth under direct orders from Hitler, who on more than one occasion spoke fondly of Henry Ford as "One of the true great Americans who understands the magnitude of the jewish problem and how best it should be dealt with."

In 1938', Henry Ford was one of only four non Germans to be bestowed the "honor" of recieving the medal of the Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle, ordered by Hitler himself, and presented to Ford in his Dearborn office by the German counsul Karl Klapp, Benito Mussolini received the same honor earlier in that year.

In his Chancellors office in the Reichstag, Hitler had three large paintings hung- one of himself dressed in full military uniform, one of his idol Fredrick the Great, and one of- you guessed it,
Henry Ford.

Ford owned and operated many production plants in France, and Germany which were used primarily for building medium and heavy duty trucks to be used for troop and munitions transport by the German Wehrmacht. These plants utilised jewish slave labor both before and after the US became an active combatant in the war.
These plants were instrumental to Germany's war making capabilities, these trucks were vital to their war effort.
Daimler, Porsch, Mercedes, and all other German manufacturers were busy making Tiger and Panther tanks, and even if they were not, they could not even come close to Ford's mass manufacturing capabilities. These plants were still owned and operated by Ford Motor Company, inspite of the fact that Germany was a hostile nation!
Henry, and to a lesser extent his son Edsel, were walking both sides of the fence.
USAF and RAF bombers destroyed many of Ford's production facilities, after the war Henry Ford demanded compensation for the damage caused by the bombers, He GOT IT!!

I could go on and on, this is really fascinating to me, especially considering I thought that I had a pretty good idea of who Henry Ford was.
He is still everything I believed him to be, but there sure is alot more about the guy I don't care for now....lol.

I think it would be a mistake to associate the modern Ford Motor Company, or the Ford family with this, or to somehow feel like they are worse for it-they could'int help ole' Henry's actions anymore than you or I could help our grandparents actions when we were 3- but ole' Henry himself is another matter, like one article I read said- " Ford was no Oskar Schindler"-that's for sure.



Regards.

 

This was posted about a month ago!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ord+and+hitler

 

henry gave adolph 50,000 each year for a b-day gift ford used to also put a copy of his book the international jew in every new ford.

 

well, maybe henry ford did believe the same things hitler did.

or, maybe henry ford saw $$$$ signs by "befriending" hitler and putting up with hitlers beliefs. everyone knows if you want cheap labor, go over-seas. cheap labor, equals higher profit.

if there were a few million bucks for me in it i would have gotten to know the guy who controlled one of the biggest armys in the world, doesnt mean id be agreeing with his beliefs.

now before you attack me remember that i made this reply with an openmind. im not a member of the **** party or anything

 

Henry was an anti-semite long before Hitler came to power.

 

Since we all own Ford's here, thus we are all guilty of supporting Hitler and his **** Clown party.

Let history stay in the past, a lot of big companies in the States, Canada, and Britain, all had a finger in the pie.
What happened 50+ years ago about the relationship between Ford & Hitler was history, let this piece of history stay in a book not being flogged to death in today's time.

 

____quote________
Farmers Ford Since we all own Ford's here, thus we are all guilty of supporting Hitler and his **** Clown party.

Let history stay in the past, a lot of big companies in the States, Canada, and Britain, all had a finger in the pie.
What happened 50+ years ago about the relationship between Ford & Hitler was history, let this piece of history stay in a book not being flogged to death in today's time
_______________________________________

I disagree whole heartedly with this entire remark.

Did you buy a Ford because you flet you were making a statement about supporting Hitler, or the ****'s? I did'int.

I did'int even know about this when I bought my Fords-but this info would not keep me from buying another one. To punish a company by boycotting it's products simply because of the stupid indescretions of it's owner/operator more than 50 years ago is stupid.

Is the modern Ford Motor Company supporting **** organisations today? Do you buy Ford products because you feel that Ford does support ****'s? I'd say no to both questions-so how does that mean you support Nazism buy buying Ford?

There are many jews who would not buy Ford products given the history the company had with **** Germany-but Daimler, Benz, GM, Mercedes, Porsch, Volkswagen, BMW, and Chrysler are all every bit as guilty.
The only difference is that these companies were out for a buck at all costs-at least the American ones were, but Ford was the only company who's CEO was an active anti semite, and avid supporter of Hitler. I honestly can't blame the surviving jews who lived through it for not wanting to own these products-many of these same jews cannot even hear the German language without vomiting.
But I in no way feel that Ford sponsors ****'s, and I don't feel that I do by buying a Ford either-thats lunacy.

As far as history goes-the problem with it is that it's taught selectively-I knew about Ford and his achievements in school, and in books, but only the other day did I learn these other things about him-I feel a little stupid about that but it's true.

I still respect him for his achievements, and it is true that during his times anti semitism was much more widespread and acceptable than it is today-but he was'int just anti semite, he was ACTIVE anti semite, and **** supporter, and profiteer from slave labor.

I'm glad I know the whole truth-it does nothing to blemish Henry Fords credit regarding his contributions to automobiles and industry, but it does give an honest and complete picture of him as a man caught up in false ideals and hippocrasy- those were his choices.

I now see Ford for what he truely was from both sides of the fence, but my SD parked in the driveway is not to blame for it's namesakes mistakes-my trucks a patriot, and a proud american that works for a living, it may bear Ford's name- but it dosent know him or care to-it knows me, and it takes care of me, and I take care of it.


Regards.

 

What we have to do now is decide if buying "made in china" is such a good thing or maybe buying "made in taiwan" might be better.

Or maybe we should start not buying "made in china" and "made in Russia" instead. I rather see my money prop up Russia than China.

I use to really HATE Japanese cars because I know the horrible things they did to our soliders and civilians during WWII (out of the 405,000 soliders killed, about 1/2 died in the Pacific). They are now a different country and a country with an elected government. I rather support Japan than China.

 

The first part of my answer was supose to be a smart a$$ comment,meaning that I'm a not a **** lover , I've been hearing this type of stuff for years that what I'm sick of hearing.
If anyone got rubbed the wrong way by my comment I'm sorry.