01/10/2022
Opportunism and greed served tyranny and war, according to this scathing study of Nazi Germany’s leading businessmen. Bloomberg journalist de Jong investigates five plutocrats who funded Hitler’s rise to power: industrialists Günther Quandt and Friedrich Flick, financier August von Finck, automaker Ferdinand Porsche, and baking-goods mogul Richard Kaselowsky. These men boosted their fortunes by “Aryanizing” Jewish-owned businesses, acquiring them through coercion at below market prices; ensured the Wehrmacht was supplied with weapons, uniforms, and pudding mix in its campaigns of conquest; and staffed their factories with forced laborers and concentration camp inmates, thousands of whom died of abuse, hunger, and outright execution. Later chapters probe the lies and bribes they deployed to escape punishment after the war, their climb back to wealth and power, and the shame-faced contrition of their billionaire heirs when their misdeeds were exposed decades later. De Jong’s colorful narrative features cutthroat corporate intrigue, sordid kowtowing to Nazi potentates—at one meeting, SS chief Heinrich Himmler strong-armed Flick and Kaselowsky into funding his Aryan breeding program—and a melodramatic feud between Quandt and Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, who married Quandt’s ex-wife. The result is an intimate and vivid history. Photos. Agent: Howard Yoon, Ross Yoon Agency. (Apr.)
Lucid, and damning, David de Jong's Nazi Billionaires unearths decades of family secrets and exposes the tainted origins of several of the world's most significant dynastic fortunes. As adept in the archive as he is on the page, de Jong draws on a vast wealth of historical evidence to tell an absorbing—and infuriating—tale of complicity, coverup, and denial, and to unearth the sordid war crimes behind some of today's most vaunted consumer brands.” — Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
"Scathing … De Jong’s colorful narrative features cutthroat corporate intrigue, sordid kowtowing to Nazi potentates ... and a melodramatic feud.... The result is an intimate and vivid history." — Publishers Weekly
"De Jong is thorough in his tracing of business and personal relationships and sensitive to the complexities of opportunism and collaboration. But the picture he paints is a damning one, pointing to the complicity of those who allowed war crimes to go unpunished." — Booklist
"A sturdy account of the financial side of Nazi evil that resonates today ... It’s to de Jong’s credit that he brings many of these events back into the historical spotlight." — Kirkus Reviews
“A detailed, compelling and bone-chilling account.” — Jerusalem Post
"Engrossing ... A powerful read that’s sadly relevant again for our times." — Town & Country
“Eloquent, thorough, and profound, David de Jong’s brilliant debut illuminates a dark chapter of the past while also shining a stark and uncanny light onto our present, and, perhaps, our near future—showing how an insidious mix of capitalism and fascism can destroy democracy and countless lives. An absolute must-read." — Norman Ohler, New York Times bestselling author of Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich
"De Jong catalogues the misdeeds and riches of the Quandts, Flicks, von Fincks, Porsche-Piëchs and Oetkers, names that still disfigure the social pages of smart Europe… It is impossible to fault de Jong’s fierce indignation." — Max Hastings, The Sunday Times (UK)
"David de Jong's explosive debut of narrative nonfiction is as riveting as it is disturbing. At times, it felt like reading the anti-Schindler's List: instead of secretly helping the Jews, Germany's most powerful tycoons brutally exploited their suffering for personal profit. The fact that some of Germany's greatest fortunes are deeply intertwined with the ignominies of the Third Reich should be much better known—and thanks to Nazi Billionaires, it will be." — Bradley Hope, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World
"In an age when the turpitude of the wealthy is getting new attention, David de Jong’s sleuthing has uncovered a remarkable and upsetting web of connections between the signature evil of the twentieth century and fabulous riches today. With its finely wrought stories of German individuals and families—including Jews who were expropriated—Nazi Billionaires suggests that even today amends have not yet been made for the profits that some reaped in an era of horror." — Samuel Moyn, Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and a professor of history at Yale University
"A fast-paced, eminently readable, and well-researched book." — HistoryNet
"David de Jong's explosive debut of narrative nonfiction is as riveting as it is disturbing. At times, it felt like reading the anti-Schindler's List: instead of secretly helping the Jews, Germany's most powerful tycoons brutally exploited their suffering for personal profit. The fact that some of Germany's greatest fortunes are deeply intertwined with the ignominies of the Third Reich should be much better known—and thanks to Nazi Billionaires, it will be."
"Engrossing ... A powerful read that’s sadly relevant again for our times."
A detailed, compelling and bone-chilling account.
Lucid, and damning, David de Jong's Nazi Billionaires unearths decades of family secrets and exposes the tainted origins of several of the world's most significant dynastic fortunes. As adept in the archive as he is on the page, de Jong draws on a vast wealth of historical evidence to tell an absorbing—and infuriating—tale of complicity, coverup, and denial, and to unearth the sordid war crimes behind some of today's most vaunted consumer brands.
"De Jong is thorough in his tracing of business and personal relationships and sensitive to the complexities of opportunism and collaboration. But the picture he paints is a damning one, pointing to the complicity of those who allowed war crimes to go unpunished."
"De Jong catalogues the misdeeds and riches of the Quandts, Flicks, von Fincks, Porsche-Piëchs and Oetkers, names that still disfigure the social pages of smart Europe… It is impossible to fault de Jong’s fierce indignation."
Eloquent, thorough, and profound, David de Jong’s brilliant debut illuminates a dark chapter of the past while also shining a stark and uncanny light onto our present, and, perhaps, our near future—showing how an insidious mix of capitalism and fascism can destroy democracy and countless lives. An absolute must-read."
"In an age when the turpitude of the wealthy is getting new attention, David de Jong’s sleuthing has uncovered a remarkable and upsetting web of connections between the signature evil of the twentieth century and fabulous riches today. With its finely wrought stories of German individuals and families—including Jews who were expropriated—Nazi Billionaires suggests that even today amends have not yet been made for the profits that some reaped in an era of horror."
"De Jong is thorough in his tracing of business and personal relationships and sensitive to the complexities of opportunism and collaboration. But the picture he paints is a damning one, pointing to the complicity of those who allowed war crimes to go unpunished."
"A fast-paced, eminently readable, and well-researched book."
2022-01-18
An unflattering investigative history of German big business over the past century.
Financial journalist de Jong reminds us that many of today’s superwealthy Germans are heirs of entrepreneurs whose companies prospered under the Third Reich through use of slave labor and seizure of companies. This is old news, but de Jong explores how all walked free after the war and their heirs do little to acknowledge their ancestors’ crimes. Few entrepreneurs paid attention to Hitler until he grew powerful after 1930. Some became ardent Nazis, but most approved of his hatred of socialism, worker activism, and democracy. Once Hitler began rearming, they scrambled for contracts, which involved currying favor with Nazi leaders. An enormous source of profit was Jewish businesses, often acquired for a pittance. Readers searching for an industrialist who disapproved will come up empty. As de Jong shows, nearly everyone approved of the methods of the business community. Orders increased, and a flood of slave laborers from the conquered countries poured into the factories. Though most “employees” were treated horribly, few employers objected. During the final year of the war, companies continued to sell their products and overwork their laborers even as the Allies overran Germany. Then they made themselves scarce. Their activities were no secret to Allied intelligence, but the first Nuremberg trial involved major political figures rather than business owners. Later, the trials of businessmen received little publicity and largely flopped, handing out a few short prison sentences and fines. It’s to de Jong’s credit that he brings many of these events back into the historical spotlight. The defendants mostly kept their businesses, handing them on to heirs, who were not inclined to discuss the wartime years. As decades passed, a good deal of dirt turned up, persuading some to apologize and make modest gestures of restitution, but others stonewalled. The author recounts perhaps more details on German business dealings than American readers may seek, but there is enough chicanery to maintain interest.
A sturdy account of the financial side of Nazi evil that resonates today.
