a question for du jews (NOT about i/p!)

[unblock]

how do you feel about buying from german companies, e.g., mercedes-benz, bmw, volksvagen and bayer pharmaceutical?

these companies had some nasty history during wwii. bayer made zyclon-b, the gas used in the infamous chambers. the car makers made other concentration camp equipment (so i've heard ... the ovens?) and, of course, tanks and other military vehicles.

some of these (all?) have apologized and made restituion, albeit only recently. futhermore, the current generation of germans are far more pacifist than nazi. then again, there is that disgusting history ....


so how do you feel about it? would you ever consider buying a german car? NOTE that this includes volkswagen, this isn't just a snobbish question. bayer now makes aspirin, cipro, and levitra (the new competitor to viagra) as well as antibiotics and so on.

i know many jews who feel uncomfortable about this issue and quite a number who refuse to buy german, at least these companies in particular. actually, vw is usually omitted from the list, hence my wondering if it isn't just a snob issue. also, most people have no idea that bayer is a german company, let alone what its role was in the war.

on the flip side, mrs. unblock and i test drove a low-end mercedes yesterday and both the salesman and the sales manager were jewish.

so, tell me how you feel about all this???

[loudnclear]

1. Interesting question...which leads to another question

Why is there such hatered of the Palestinians and Arabs? Why is it that Jews have little problem with dealing with Germans..responsible for the holocaust, and hate and attack Palestinians who had little if anything to do with the worst atorcities against Jews in history?

[Cassandra]

13. Why are you asking that question here...

when the author of the thread was specific that I/P was not the subject here? Go over to I/P and ask it there. And, BTW, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during WWII was a Nazi and a Nazi sympathizer (visited Berlin, the whole bit), and the Arabs in the region were on the side of Germany at the time.

[Darranar]

14. I hate and attack palestinians?

I was not aware of that fact.

Strange.

[ikojo]

2. I don't own any car so the question of buying a car is moot to me

however, I think your response will depend upon the generation of the responder. I know that immediately following WWII many Jews refrained from buying Mercedes Benz or any German car (I don't think BMWs were as popular or well known in the US in the immediate post war period). Most Jews who could afford a luxury car bought a Cadillac. There was also a longtime boycott of Fords because Henry Ford was an outspoken supporter and distributor of antisemitic propaganda (he published the International Jew in his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent).

I don't think American Jews who grew up in the 70s and 80s have much problem purchasing German made goods (if the number of Mercedes and BMWs in the temple parking lot is any indication.) I think the only German made item I have in my apartment is a Grundig shortwave radio.

The problem now with boycotting a corp because of where it's supposed headquarters are located is that just because something was ONCE primarily German owned and manufactured does not mean it is so today. Corporate boards are so incestous today. Ford owns parts of car company x and car company x owns part of Ford and so forth and so on.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. As a jew who drives a Honda

I'd have no probelm switching to a German model.

But my grandmother would probably flip, she hates ANYTHING German. When I introduced my ex girlfriend to her I had to say she was JUST half Irish.

[Darranar]

4. I don't care...

I don't really like to discriminate against all Germans because of what a few did, so I would only boycott such a company is their current or recent past actions warranted it.

[La_Serpiente]

7. The other thing

Is that many companies paid reparations...however, I don't know if all of them did.

[LeahMira]

5. It's generational, I think.

how do you feel about buying from german companies, e.g., mercedes-benz, bmw, volksvagen and bayer pharmaceutical?

I think that many of the older generation still feel that way and they may pass that feeling on to their sons and daughters who were born after WWII, but generally the younger folks aren't that way.

When our children learn about the Holocaust in Hebrew school they learn about the loss of so much of the Jewish culture in Europe, the heroism of some individuals that we know about, the way the Jewish people resisted dehumanization, and the sufferings of those who eventually died... things like that.

Personally, speaking as someone born in 1944, I wouldn't buy a Ford but not because of Henry Ford's anti-Semitism. I just don't like their cars. My Acura is very dependable and doesn't guzzle a lot of gas. Others here may disagree, of course. I will take a Bayer aspirin for a headache.

[jonoboy]

6. without naming names

when I was living in New York I had a run-in with a German aristocrat whose family name was associated with and sponsored the Nazi Party at it's beginnings.
Relating the tale to my many Jewish friends there they were outraged that this person would dare even show their face in that city, as the family wealth was boosted by their activities during WW11 and because they sat out that period in Switzerland. The most strident critic then used to drive me to the country each weekend in a mercedes but reasoned that they were now made by a generation of German workers who are very politically aware and abhored their countries past.

But I also cannot work out why so much animosity is directed at the Palestinians.

[agingdem]

8. How I feel?

Well, as a child of a Holocaust survivor I have very deep feelings about German-made as opposed to made-anywhere-else. A few hears ago I needed a new car and one of the dealerships I visited handled BMW and Mazda. The salesman tried to steer me to a BMW and I told him absolutely not. The creep sneered and said "Are you a Jew or something?" Before I told the guy to go to hell I explained that my parents were Holocaust survivors and I refuse to drive a German car. The guy asked me why I had no qualms about driving a Japanese car, afterall, they attacked Pearl Harbor and killed Americans. I agreed that Pearl Harbor was a tragedy, however, the Japenese didn't pick and choose. Besides, I explained, before my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were sent to Auschwitz, never to be seen again, a few of my relatives were used as slave labor in the Mercedes Benz factories.

[veganwitch]

9. what a fucking prick!!

i would have talked to his supervisor and i would have left. car dealers do work on commission. that asshole is not worth moy time or money.

[agingdem]

12. Have no fear...

I have never been one to let a Jew-baiting remark go unpunished. However, I will say this...many Jewish Mercedes and BMW owners say that to drive German is a form of revenge. I think it's more an assimilation thing than a revenge thing.

[kayell]

10. Eww, I hope you reported his remarks to the management

told them how he lost the company a sale, and explained how many other cars they wouldn't be selling once you told everyone you know about their bigoted employee. :grr:

[Ardee]

11. I cant decide

whether I am more put off by the question than by any lingering animosity for germans 58 years after the end of WWII.....

[sangha]

15. Me too

I hate buying anything from just about any corporation. However, I don't have to make that decision based on what happened 50 years ago. What's going on today is more than sufficient

[agingdem]

17. Exactly...

I read an article about German anti-semitism once more rearing it's ugly head as if the death of Hitler ended it. It's alway been a part of Eastern European subconscious.

[Cassandra]

16. My parents won't buy German anything

if they can help it. I don't have a car, so that's not an issue for me but I do buy German drafting tools, semiprecious stones cut in Germany and German wine. One of my German stone dealers (a very sweet guy) asked me if his being German made me uncomfortable. I told him that these days, what he really didn't want to be was Swiss (the bankers being particularly self-rightious and scummy). Germany has a precise and methodical culture and there are times when that's valuable and times when that was monstrous.

[slappypan]

18. boycotting Germany makes no sense

The German people have worked so hard to eradicate Naziism and build a humane, enlightened society. They have many laws to suppress facist groups and the governmant of Germany has paid reparations to Holocaust survivors. When there is a racist incident in Germany, the streets are flooded with anti-Nazi demonstrators. I am of Jewish heritage (although I am an atheist), and it makes no sense to me to boycott Germany, I am far more concerned with human rights abusers operating now in the present day. My older brother actually lives in Germany, was maried to a German woman, and has a young son.