• PugJesus@piefed.socialOPM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    5 days ago

    Behind the Bastards has a really good episode on Volkswagen. I might have some of the details wrong, but the German government was subsidizing them for a while with the dream of having every citizen driving a Volkswagen.

    Correct! The Nazi government tried to push a payment plan onto people, even. The people who paid into the scam fundraising effort but did not receive a car (ie all of them, as no cars were actually delivered) eventually sued after the war to get some small percentage of their money back.

    • Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      5 days ago

      They were never delivered?? I was familiar with the story but no one had ever mentioned that before, that seems pretty fuckin important 😅

      • anomnom@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        5 days ago

        Yeah they were called the KDFwagen too then (strength trough joy car).

        They switched to buildings then as little jeeps and invaded Russia instead of delivering the cars to the buyers. Pieche ran the factories with concentration labor after they ran out of hitler youth to exploit. And the British passed over the car when the war read over because conditions at the factory are so bad the cars were being built like shit initially.