THeBlueCashew

QuoteCoburg had given him fresh confidence. "From now on I will go my way alone," he declared. Only a short time before he had still thought of himself as a harbinger and dreamed that "one day someone will come along, with an iron cranium and possibly with filthy boots, but with a pure conscience and strong fist, who will put an end to the blabber of these armchair heroes and give the nation deeds." Now, tentatively at first, he began to think of himself as the coming man and actually ended by comparing himself to Napoleon. His army superiors during the war would not promote him to a noncom on the ground that he would be incapable of arousing respect. Now, by his extraordinary and ultimately devastating capacity to evoke loyalty, he demonstrated his talent for leadership. For it was solely for his sake that his followers went to the lengths they did; it was only with eyes on him that they were ready to stake their lives, trample over their own compunctions, and from the very beginning to commit crimes. He liked to be called "Wolf" in his intimate circle; the name, he decided, was the primitive Germanic form of Adolf. It accorded, moreover, with his jungle image of the world and suggested the qualities of strength, aggressiveness, and solitariness. He also used "Wolf" as a pseudonym occasionally and later gave it to the sister who ran his household. And when it was decided to establish the Volkswagen plant, Robert Ley declared: "We shall name the town Wolfsburg, after you, my Führer." 36

Quote36. Communicated to the author by Albert Speer. Speer was present at this scene; "Wolfsburg" was the name of an estate in the vicinity.

QuoteSo how about the Volkswagen company itself, the company you can buy cars from to this day — wasn't that created by the Nazis, at least? The answer? No, not really.



See, when Hitler decided he wanted a people's car (not his idea), and got Porsche to design it (basing it heavily on the ideas of others), he needed a factory to build it and an organization to run it. The organization was called Kraft durch Freude which sounds scary in German but is even creepier in English: Strength-through-Joy.



Kraft durch Freude (KdF) was the German leisure organization, organizing tourist trips and resorts and probably prostitutes, if you knew who to ask. The people's car was seen as a way to improve the quality of life of German citizens, and so the car was renamed the KdF-Wagen and a savings-stamp scheme was started to let people save up for a car.



A whole town was built, called Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben, which means, "City of the KdF Car at Fallersleben." Catchy! A huge factory was built to build the cars, barracks to house the people, and all that.



So, based on this, you're probably thinking "See, Jason, you dipshit, the Nazis directly started Volkswagen!" But wait — I'm not saying I'm not a dipshit, I'm just asking you to hear me out. Here's the thing: under the KdF name and management, no civilian Beetles were actually ever sold. At all.



A little scuffle called WWII happened and pretty much killed KdF. The factory was converted to produce the VW-derived Kubelwagens and Schwimmwagens and other military hardware. A few Beetle/KdF bodies were made, usually on beefy Kubelwagen chassis, and used as command cars, with a few other variants. But, importantly, no basic passenger cars were ever sold.



After the war, the factory was a mess, but barely functional. Germany was an even worse mess, and the people of the town (soon to be renamed Wolfsburg) were desperate for food and work. It was under the British occupation that the VW factory actually started up again, under the leadership of Major Ivan Hirst.

Quote from: "Angry White Male"You seem to know your shit also!  Blurt may call it "Mein Kampf," but you read the same book as I have...



SO!  The question remains!

Quote from: "Angry White Male"That quote was made before that plant even existed...  It was Hitler's deal to build the Bug, and as such the plant was planned years before also, but it was built, as was the town, while still under Nazi rule...

QuoteWolfsburg, the planned city built around the village of Fallersleben specifically to develop the "Volkswagen" project, was literally an industrial colony created to house workers of the production facility.  The city of Wolfsburg was created on July 1, 1938 as Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben, or in English "City of the KdF Car at Fallersleben".  The City planning was the work of architect Peter Koller, but it was not until 1945 that the city was renamed Wolfsburg after the castle located there.

Quote from: "Blurt"I didn't know Hitler talked about VW Bugs in Mein Kampf.



Learn something new every day.  :smiley_thumbs_up_yellow_ani:

Quote from: "Blurt"I'm just razzing Mel about the Mein Kampf thing.

Quote from: "Blurt"I know.



You just like to display it on your coffee table.

Quote from: "Angry White Male"

Quote from: "Blurt"I know.



You just like to display it on your coffee table.

No.  I don't even own a copy of Mein Kampf.

Quote from: "Blurt"You posted a photo of your apartment once, and there the book was, just beneath that .22 hanging on the wall.

Quote from: "Harry"So, I've got a couple of PMs stuck in my outbox.  They just won't send.



Any ideas?

Quote from: "Herman"

Quote from: "Harry"So, I've got a couple of PMs stuck in my outbox.  They just won't send.



Any ideas?

Let Fash know.

Quote from: "kiebers"I just sent one to you to see if it breaks things loose.

Quote from: "Harry"

Quote from: "Herman"

Quote from: "Harry"So, I've got a couple of PMs stuck in my outbox.  They just won't send.



Any ideas?

Let Fash know.

PM to Fash is one of the 2 stuck in the outbox...

Quote from: "Harry"

Quote from: "Herman"

Quote from: "Harry"So, I've got a couple of PMs stuck in my outbox.  They just won't send.



Any ideas?

Let Fash know.

PM to Fash is one of the 2 stuck in the outbox...

Quote from: "Harry"OK.  I think I've worked out what's going on.



Am I correct in saying that the PMs stay in the outbox until the other person reads them?