One of the more fascinating things that I learned from The Corporation, is that multi-national corporations tend to put profits over patriotism. This is not a new phenomenon as the American revolution was, in some ways, a backlash against British mercantilism, and the pursuit of profit, is actually a part of human nature on the whole. However, one of the more horrific instances of placing profits over patriotism can be seen in the amount of collaboration between American companies and Nazi Germany. Even though it wasn’t illegal to do business with Germany until they declared war on the U.S. in December 1941, it’s still somewhat rattling to see “Great American” companies on this list.

General Motors
To this day, the notion that GM had any part in assisting the Nazi war effort remains contentious, as evidence points to GM losing control of their European operations by the start of World War II. Nevertheless, General Motors owned 100% of the largest European automaker, Opel, which then expanded its operations in Nazi Germany. It was this expansion during the 1930s that allowed for Hitler to maintain the war machine for so long. This may be a simple case of being an accessory to the crime, like driving somebody to the 7-11 and they hold it up while you pump the gas, but if that’s the case GM should have chosen profit over principles.

Union Banking Corporation
The Union Banking Corporation was an investment bank based in New York that was seized by the federal government in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act. One of the UBC’s principle trading partners was a man named Fritz Thyssen, a German industrialist and ardent supporter of Hitler. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Thyssen openly declared that he did not support the war, and his companies were seized by the German government. However, this didn’t stop the UBC from doing business with them. And who sat on the board of directors of this bank, none other than Prescott Bush, pictured, grandfather of the 43rd President (and father of the 41st).

Henry Ford
Henry Ford, the man largely responsible for birth of the auto industry, was anti-Semitic and ardent supporter of Adolf Hitler. Yes, you heard me right. Hitler kept a life-sized portrait of Henry Ford in his office, and once said, “I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration.” In 1938, after Germany annexed Austria, Hitler awarded Ford The Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest award granted by Nazi Germany to foreign citizens. Even after Germany and the U.S. were at war with each other, Ford still did not fully support FDR, and while Ford did not prevent the Ford Motor Company from participating in the war effort, he never participated personally.

I.G. Farben
This company was actually a German conglomerate, of which Bayer was a founding company. It was also the largest chemical manufacturer in the world at the outset of World War II, and is most notable for producing the Zyklon B that was used to gas prisoners at the concentration camps. I included this company on the list because you never know if some of the prescription drugs that Bayer has created in the last 50 years were derived from the Nazi’s gruesome experiments.

IBM

By far the most egregious offender on the list, IBM was responsible for creating the punch-card system that kept track of the ghetto and prison system. IBM openly partnered with Nazi Germany from 1931 to 1941, and continued that partnership through its German subsidiaries from 1941-1945. IBM helped make the Nazi killing machine more efficient, while generating huge profits for itself. For more information on the IBM-Hitler connection, check out the book: IBM and the Holocaust : The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation