Nazi Billionaires
The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties
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Narrated by:
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Michael David Axtell
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By:
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David de Jong
About this listen
A groundbreaking investigation of how the Nazis helped German tycoons make billions from the horrors of the Third Reich and World War II – and how the world allowed them to get away with it.
In 1946, Günther Quandt – patriarch of Germany’s most iconic industrial empire, a dynasty that today controls BMW – was arrested for suspected Nazi collaboration. Quandt claimed that he had been forced to join the party by his arch-rival, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, and the courts acquitted him. But Quandt lied. And his heirs, and those of other Nazi billionaires, have only grown wealthier in the generations since, while their reckoning with this dark past remains incomplete at best. Many of them continue to control swaths of the world economy, owning iconic brands whose products blanket the globe. The brutal legacy of the dynasties that dominated Daimler-Benz, cofounded Allianz and still control Porsche, Volkswagen and BMW has remained hidden in plain sight – until now.
In this landmark work, investigative journalist David de Jong reveals the true story of how Germany’s wealthiest business dynasties amassed untold money and power by abetting the atrocities of the Third Reich. Using a wealth of untapped sources, de Jong shows how these tycoons seized Jewish businesses, procured slave labourers and ramped up weapons production to equip Hitler’s army as Europe burnt around them. Most shocking of all, de Jong exposes how the wider world’s political expediency enabled these billionaires to get away with their crimes, covering up a bloodstain that defiles the German and global economy to this day.
©2022 David de Jong (P)2022 HarperCollins PublishersCritic Reviews
‘It is impossible to fault de Jong’s fierce indignation in his book. He must be right to urge that the descendants of Hitler’s tycoons should admit their ancestors’ criminality’
Max Hastings, Sunday Times
‘Fascinating … de Jong tells the story with the brisk clarity of the good financial journalist he is and lets the fact speak for themselves. It leaves you awestruck at the power of greed’
Daily Telegraph
‘The author cleverly weaves his astonishing facts and figures into human stories … Its fascinating detail and engaging style make Nazi Billionaires a forceful book, revealing to a wide audience a vital aspect of Germany’s ongoing discussion with itself’
Spectator
‘Lucid, and damning, 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, bestselling author of Empire of Pain
‘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, bestselling author of Blitzed
‘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’
Bradley Hope, bestselling co-author of Billion Dollar Whale
What listeners say about Nazi Billionaires
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- zico
- 17-01-2023
Dark history of German industrialists exposed
Very interesting listen. However it took a long time to end and a shortened version may have been more powerful. Well ok narrated
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- michael izhik
- 10-01-2023
Very detailed read
Exceptional work by the author. The amount of work and research is astounding! We’ll done!
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- Glenn Campbell
- 27-01-2023
Superb
I was getting angrier at history with every car trip - a great book for sure
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- Emma
- 20-07-2022
Facinating and terrifying
This is an excellent book that looks at the Nazi's who benefited from WW2 and escaped any consequences. They built empires that stand today off the backs of holocaust victims. I don't think I will look at fancy sports cars the same way again. Also fascinating is the history of Magda Goebbels before and after she married Joseph. I couldn't turn this off.
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- Anonymous User
- 13-02-2024
Well Narrated
Very easy to listen and informative - Highly recommended for any World War 2 history buffs
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- Anonymous User
- 01-10-2022
Fabulous book
I loved this book. An extremely well-researched and well-written, interesting and engaging book which I found enlightening and horrifying at the same time. It is tragic to see how there is no such thing as Karma and in real life crime does pay. Kudos to the author for writing this fantastic book. The narrator did a wonderful job. I will highly recommend this book to everyone.
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- Ryan
- 08-07-2023
A gripping assemblage of evidence
I strongly recommend this book to all. The greater the number of people who understand this history, the better.
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