[rollei_list] Re: Rollei TLR - The History by Ian Parker
- From: Douglas Nygren <dnygr@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2006 22:45:55 -0400
Thanks. Marc. Nice to know this about F&H.
Doug
On Sep 4, 2006, at 10:21 PM, Marc James Small wrote:
At 10:00 PM 9/4/2006, Jeffery Smith wrote:
Rollei, like many other corporations in the 30's, were supportive of
the
Nazi party prior to the war. When the war was over, they resented the
British occupation at first, but warmed up to them after interacting
with
the British for a while. I think that Rollei was embarassed over
having
utilized a Jewish photographer for Hitler's photo shoot as it would
raise
eyebrows.
Jeffery
To the contrary, Franke & Heidecke, as was the case with almost the
entire German optical and camera industry, were lukewarm towards the
Nazi Party and government from 1933 to the end. F&H and Voigtländer
both attempted to avoid taking slave laborers and were so nice to the
ones they were forced to take that the local Nazi Party investigated
the companies for lack of commitment to the New World Order. (Elsi
Leitz in Wetzlar was thrown into a concentration camp for her
outspoken opposition to the Nazis, and the head of the German optical
industry, Heinz Küppenbender of Zeiss, was tried by the Nazis for his
sheltering of slave laborers -- he was only acquitted through the
direct intervention of Speer.) The German metallurgy, chemical,
ship-building, and automotive industries all played closely with the
Nazis, but not F&H or the other camera companies other than KW (owned
by an American who had got it at a fire-sale price when the former
Jewish owners were forced out -- both Jewish families, though, DID
make it to the US safely, one to Cleveland and the other to LA, where
some of the descendants still ran a camera store as recently as a
decade back). (The one German auto company to distance itself from
the Nazi regime, oddly enough, was Volkswagen, actually owned by the
Party, though Ferry Porsche was a frequent visitor to Hitler because
of his tank designs, even though the Mercedes designs were more
commonly accepted for service production.)
And, Parker to the contrary, F&H welcomed the British occupation. I
interviewed the US representative on the Inter-Allied Council on
Optical Reparations, and he was very sour in recounting how closely
F&H worked with the British -- "I wish we had had that sort of spirit
at Zeiss", he said. But, then, he REALLY disliked and distrusted the
British, so maybe that flavored his remarks a bit.
Parker tells interesting tales but they are anecdotal, disjointed, and
generally not to be trusted unless otherwise authenticated from an
independent source. His books are necessary reads, but hold them at
arm's length and keep the salt-shaker at close hand.
Marc
msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
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