Walter Donovan... Henry Ford?

Col. Detritch

New member
Hey, so lately I've been thinking about the character of Donovan, a wealthy American industrialist with some sort of a superiority complex, who sides with the Nazis... and it sparked a thought, this sounds an awful lot like Henry Ford. Maybe it's just me but I think this comparison makes his character so much more interesting (and I say this as someone who enjoyed his character to begin with). Any thoughts on this observation?

09YjF.jpg


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Col. Detritch

New member
Of course there were. I certainly wasn't saying that. I guess I just equated Donovan specifically to Ford primarily because of Ford's undeniable prominence in the regime.

Examples (Yeah it's Wikipedia but it's a nice summary of what I know to be fact):

Hitler said he regarded Ford as his "inspiration", explaining his reason for keeping Ford's life-size portrait next to his desk. Steven Watts wrote that Hitler "revered" Ford, proclaiming that "I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany," and modeling the Volkswagen, the people's car, on the model T.

Heinrich Himmler described Ford as "one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters."

Ford is the only American mentioned in Mein Kampf. etc. etc.



I felt that Donovan, considering he was being trusted to retrieve the immeasurably valuable Holy Grail for the Nazis, would, as Ford did, hold a similar esteem within the party over other sympathizers like him.

:hat:
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Col. Detritch said:
I felt that Donovan, considering he was being trusted to retrieve the immeasurably valuable Holy Grail for the Nazis, would, as Ford did, hold a similar esteem within the party over other sympathizers like him.

That poses an interesting question, actually. How was the connection made, between Donovan and the Nazis? Who made the approach? Was it really Donovan's diggers who found the first marker, north of Ankara, or was it the Germans?

I suppose it is likeliest that Donovan's people really did find it, and that either the Nazis contacted him at that point to have access to the Grail clues, or that he contacted them for their resources. His party pin at the end does suggest his sympathies are real, unlike the marriages of convenience that Belloq and Elsa undertake, so some level of pre-existing connection was likely.
 
Col. Detritch said:
...considering he was being trusted to retrieve the immeasurably valuable Holy Grail for the Nazis, would, as Ford did, hold a similar esteem within the party over other sympathizers like him.:hat:

It would seem Donovan/Ford would be a powerful one-two punch.

His abilities as an administrator and the power/money as the result to finance personal/passion projects.

Nice thread.:hat:

Col. Detritch said:
Ford is the only American mentioned in Mein Kampf.
How when and where?
 

Montana Smith

Active member
The following is excerpted from a report printed by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1974:

"The activities of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler prior to and during World War II...are instructive. At that time, these three firms dominated motor vehicle production in both the United States and Germany. Due to its mass production capabilities, automobile manufacturing is one of the most crucial industries with respect to national defense. As a result, these firms retained the economic and political power to affect the shape of governmental relations both within and between these nations in a manner which maximized corporate global profits. In short, they were private governments unaccountable to the citizens of any country yet possessing tremendous influence over the course of war and peace in the world. The substantial contribution of these firms to the American war effort in terms of tanks, aircraft components, and other military equipment is widely acknowledged. Less well known are the simultaneous contributions of their foreign subsidiaries to the Axis Powers. In sum, they maximized profits by supplying both sides with the materiel needed to conduct the war.

During the 1920's and 1930's, the Big Three automakers undertook an extensive program of multinational expansion...By the mid-1930's, these three American companies owned automotive subsidiaries throughout Europe and the Far East; many of their largest facilities were located in the politically sensitive nations of Germany, Poland, Rumania, Austria, Hungary, Latvia, and Japan...Due to their concentrated economic power over motor vehicle production in both Allied and Axis territories, the Big Three inevitably became major factors in the preparations and progress of the war. In Germany, for example, General Motors and Ford became an integral part of the Nazi war efforts. GM's plants in Germany built thousands of bomber and jet fighter propulsion systems for the Luftwaffe at the same time that its American plants produced aircraft engines for the U.S. Army Air Corps....

Ford was also active in Nazi Germany's prewar preparations. In 1938, for instance, it opened a truck assembly plant in Berlin whose "real purpose," according to U.S. Army Intelligence, was producing "troop transport-type" vehicles for the Wehrmacht. That year Ford's chief executive received the Nazi German Eagle (first class)....

The outbreak of war in September 1939 resulted inevitably in the full conversion by GM and Ford of their Axis plants to the production of military aircraft and trucks.... On the ground, GM and Ford subsidiaries built nearly 90 percent of the armored "mule" 3-ton half-trucks and more than 70 percent of the Reich's medium and heavy-duty trucks. These vehicles, according to American intelligence reports, served as "the backbone of the German Army transportation system."....

After the cessation of hostilities, GM and Ford demanded reparations from the U.S. Government for wartime damages sustained by their Axis facilities as a result of Allied bombing... Ford received a little less than $1 million, primarily as a result of damages sustained by its military truck complex at Cologne...

Due to their multinational dominance of motor vehicle production, GM and Ford became principal suppliers for the forces of fascism as well as for the forces of democracy. It may, of course, be argued that participating in both sides of an international conflict, like the common corporate practice of investing in both political parties before an election, is an appropriate corporate activity. Had the Nazis won, General Motors and Ford would have appeared impeccably Nazi; as Hitler lost, these companies were able to re-emerge impeccably American. In either case, the viability of these corporations and the interests of their respective stockholders would have been preserved."

...

In 1920 Ford stated: "The international financiers are behind all war. They are what is called the International Jew -- German Jews, French Jews, English Jews, American Jews. I believe that in all these countries except our own the Jewish financier is supreme... Here, the Jew is a threat."

In the 1920s he published The International Jew. Hitler himself ordered many copies of this book and was said to keep a copy on his desk. It is easy to see why when reading the book, because the attack on the Jews is vehement. The book states:

"WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?

Simply identify the source and nature of the influence which has overrun our schools and universities. Let the students know that their choice is between the Anglo-Saxons and the Tribe of Judah. Let the students decide, in making up their allegiance, whether they will follow the Builders or those who seek to tear down. It is not a case for argument. The only absolute antidote to the Jewish influence is to call college students back to a pride of race.

We often speak of the Fathers as if they were the few who happened to affix their signatures to a great document which marked a new era of liberty. The Fathers of our nation were the men of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic race. The men who came from Europe with civilization in their blood and in their destiny. The men who crossed the Atlantic and set up civilization on a bleak and rock-bound coast; the men who drove north to Alaska and west to California; the men who opened up the tropics and subdued the arctics; the men who mastered the African veldt; the men who peopled Australia and seized the gates of the world at Suez, Gibraltar and Panama; men who have given form to every government and a livelihood to every people and an ideal to every century. They got neither their God nor their religion from Judah, nor yet their speech nor their creative genius- they are the Ruling People. Chosen throughout the centuries to Master the world, by building it ever better and better, and not by breaking it down.

Into the camp of this race, among the sons of the rulers, comes a people that has no civilization to point to, no aspiring religion, no universal speech, no great achievement in any realm but the realm of "get," cast out of every land that gave them hospitality, and these people endeavor to tell the Sons of the Saxons what is needed to make the world what it ought to be!

If our sons follow this counsel of dark rebellion and destruction, it is because they do not know whose sons they are, of what race they are the scions. Let there be free speech to the limit in our universities and free intercourse of ideas, but let Jewish thoughts be labeled Jewish, and let our sons know the racial secret...

NAME THE ENEMY!

...

Judah has begun the struggle. Judah has made the invasion. Let it come. Let no man fear it. But let every a man insist that the fight be fair. Let college students and leaders of thought know that the objective is the regnancy of the ideas and the race that have built all the civilization we see and that promises all the civilization of the future; let them also know that the attacking force is Jewish.

That is all that will be necessary. It is against this that the Jews protest. "You must not identify us," they say, "You must not use the term 'Jew'." Why? Because unless the Jewish idea can creep in under the assumption of other than Jewish origin, it is doomed. Anglo-Saxon ideas dare proclaim themselves and their origin. A proper proclamation is all that is necessary today. Compel every invading idea to run up its flag!"

At the Nuremberg Trials Baldur Von Shirach claimed that Henry Ford was the primary inspiration for his anti-Semitism.

Shirach, a former Nazi youth leader, stated: "You have no idea what a great influence this book had on the thinking of the German youth…I read Henry Ford's book 'The International Jewry'…and became anti-Semitic."

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/verdicts.html

Ford also made large personal contributions to Hitler's political campaigns. Hitler spoke of Ford in his speeches and had a portrait of Ford in his office.

In 1938 Henry Ford received the Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle as a birthday present from Adolph Hitler. He was given the medal in his office in Michigan by two officials from the Third Reich, as seen below:

THIS_W6.JPG


Ford never returned this medal, even after WWII. The head of IBM, who had also been given a medal from Hitler because he was a supporter of the Third-Reich, returned his medal after WWII, but Henry did not despite public outcry.

http://rationalrevolution.net/war/american_supporters_of_the_europ.htm
 

Col. Detritch

New member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Originally Posted by Col. Detritch
...considering he was being trusted to retrieve the immeasurably valuable Holy Grail for the Nazis, would, as Ford did, hold a similar esteem within the party over other sympathizers like him. :hat:

It would seem Donovan/Ford would be a powerful one-two punch.

His abilities as an administrator and the power/money as the result to finance personal/passion projects.

Nice thread.:hat:

Originally Posted by Col. Detritch
Ford is the only American mentioned in Mein Kampf.

How when and where?

Thank you. :D

As for how, when, where, I know Ford is mentioned in the Manheim translation, page 639 I believe. The Manheim translation is an accurate translation of the document that includes all racial slurs and other hostile comments (including a controversial reference to prominent American industrialist, Henry Ford). It is, as far as I know, the most recent official translation and caused quite the controversy. The other I am aware of is the Murphy translation, which is less faithful to the text and cleans up more sensitive elements of the hate book (including replacing Ford's reference with generalities). It was the first full English translation. Of course there are others but these are the two I'm familiar with personally.

Mein Kampf: Manheim translation (p.639)
It is Jews who govern the Stock Exchange forces of the American union. Every year makes them more and more the controlling masters of the producers in a nation of one hundred and twenty millions; only a single great man, Ford, to their fury, still maintains full independence.

For the sake of comparison:

Mein Kampf: Murphy translation
Jews control the financial forces of America on the stock exchange. Year after year the Jew increases his hold on Labour in a nation of 120 million souls. But a very small section still remains quite independent and is thus the cause of chagrin to the Jew.

Also, to add to my above comments, I do know that Hitler utilized sections of Ford's own hate book, The International Jew, verbatim in writing Mein Kampf.

Originally Posted by Attila the Professor
That poses an interesting question, actually. How was the connection made, between Donovan and the Nazis? Who made the approach? Was it really Donovan's diggers who found the first marker, north of Ankara, or was it the Germans?

I suppose it is likeliest that Donovan's people really did find it, and that either the Nazis contacted him at that point to have access to the Grail clues, or that he contacted them for their resources. His party pin at the end does suggest his sympathies are real, unlike the marriages of convenience that Belloq and Elsa undertake, so some level of pre-existing connection was likely.

That's a good point, Attila. I've always felt the case was, Donovan had been an existing sympathizer who held a great deal of esteem in the Nazi party. When his men stumbled upon the marker in Ankara Donovan "pooled resources", for my present lack of a better term, with the Nazis to attain a common goal. Donovan stated he was more than willing aid the Nazis with their mission regarding the Grail, of course he too has his own goals - none of which seemed to conflict with Hitler's. Plus he holds no objections to their overall motives from what we hear. I too feel Donovan was a true sympathizer and, had he not died, would not have returned his Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle post-war just as Ford didn't - assuming he got one, which is highly probable given his apparent stature. Again, I think this rich historical foundation makes Donovan a much more interesting character than he generally gets credit for. I'd love to hear what you guys now think of Donovan as a villain with regards to this parallel. :)

Walter Donovan
The Nazis just want to write themselves into the Grail legend, take on the world. Well, they're welcome to it, but I want the Grail itself, the Cup that gives everlasting life. Hitler can have the world, but he can't take it with him. I'm going to be drinking my health when he's gone the way of the dodo.

There is a little summarized background to some of Ford's exploits in Montana's post above but of course I'd highly suggest doing some more in-depth research into the topic, if one were interested in it. This stuff is strewn through history books and websites. I'm a history enthusiast so most of this is really just prior knowledge that I have sourced for credibility. :hat:
 
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