LizzieMaine
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The US was neutral at the time (were there still US interests dealing with Germany in 1940?),
Very much so. Henry Ford, one of the founding members of the isolationist "America First" movement, was deeply involved in trading with the Nazi government -- and thru overseas affliates and neutral countries *continued to do so right thru the war.* Other major US companies were likewise up to their neck in Nazi business relationships. Patriotic All-American Coca-Cola was bottled and sold in Germany right up until Atlanta finally cut off the flow of syrup to Berlin, which had been channeled thru neutral powers after the declaration of war, in 1943. And even after that, the German affiliate of Coca Cola continued to do business, introducing a new drink called "Fanta," a brand you might still recognize. IBM was responsible for designing and building the punch-card apparatus used for keeping records in the concentration camps. Standard Oil of New Jersey, again operating thru international afflilates, did business with both sides thruout the war -- when partisans finally caught up with Mussolini and lynched him, he was hung by his ankles from the canopy of an Esso station.
There was a widespread belief among American big-business leaders that "we can do business with Hitler," and many of them went to great lengths to carry out this belief. A best-selling book in 1942 was called "You CAN'T Do Business With Hitler," which tried to expose and disprove this attitude, but deep into the war you could find business leaders grumbling that we were "on the wrong side."
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