Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Report: Koch Brothers' Father Helped Nazis Build Oil Refinery
________________________________________
Report: Koch Brothers' Father Helped Nazis Build Oil Refinery
By Adam Johnson [1] / AlterNet [2]
January 11, 2016
A new book by New Yorker writer Jane Mayer about the history of far-right
financing of elections has quite a revelation: the Koch Brothers father, and
patriarch of their fortune, Fred Koch, built an oil refinery for Nazi
Germany that was overseen by Hitler himself. The New York Times, which had
received an advance copy of the book, "Dark Money," reported [3]:
But the book is largely focused on the Koch family, stretching back to its
involvement in the far-right John Birch Society and the political and
business activities of the father, Fred C. Koch, who found some of his
earliest business success overseas in the years leading up to World War II.
One venture was a partnership with the American Nazi sympathizer William
Rhodes Davis, who, according to Ms. Mayer, hired Mr. Koch to help build the
third-largest oil refinery in the Third Reich, a critical industrial cog in
Hitler's war machine.
Koch Industries spokesman Ken Spain told the Times, "If the content of the
book is reflective of Ms. Mayer's previous reporting of the Koch family,
Koch Industries or Charles's and David's political involvement, then we
expect to have deep disagreements and strong objections to her
interpretation of the facts and their sourcing,"
The Koch brothers are major players in U.S. politics, having donated to a
number of far-right causes including deregulation [4], climate change denial
[5], anti-tax groups [6] and, most famously, the nominally grassroots [7]
right-wing movement generally known as the Tea Party. The Kochs' father
founded Tea Party predecessor the John Birch Society that dealt in similar
themes of anti-government paranoia that dovetailed nicely with the Kochs'
financial interests in pro-corporate deregulation efforts.
In 1934, Mayer details for the first time, Fred Koch's firm provided
engineering plans and began construction on an oil refinery near Hamburg
which help fuel the war machine including the Nazis infamous Luftwaffe air
fleet. The Washington Post reports [8] that the Kochs links to Nazi Germany
went beyond mere business:
For example, Mayer writes that the family patriarch, Fred Koch, admired
German discipline so much in the 1930s that he hired a fervent Nazi as a
governess for his eldest boys. "Dark Money" suggests that the experience of
being toilet trained by a Nazi may have contributed to Charles Koch's
antipathy toward government today.
Mayer's book also deals generally with the relationship between right-wing
oligarchs and U.S. policies. It includes accounts of the Bradleys, DeVoses,
the Scaifes, and other families who have used their great wealth to
influence the Republican party and conservative and libertarian media. The
hardcover of "Dark Money" is out [9] January 19th.
Adam Johnson is an associate editor at AlterNet. Follow him on Twitter at
@adamjohnsonnyc [10].
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [11]
[12]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/report-koch-brothers-father-helped
-nazis-build-oil-refinery
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/adam-johnson-0
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped
-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html
[4] http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/covert-operations
[5]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elliott-negin/unreliable-sources-how-th_b_3255
192.html
[6] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html
[8]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/11/new-book-fat
her-of-politically-active-koch-brothers-built-a-refinery-for-the-nazis/
[9]
http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597/
ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452590265&sr=1-1&keywords=da
rk+money+jane+mayer
[10] https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonnyc
[11] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Report: Koch
Brothers' Father Helped Nazis Build Oil Refinery
[12] http://www.alternet.org/
[13] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Report: Koch Brothers' Father Helped Nazis Build Oil Refinery
Report: Koch Brothers' Father Helped Nazis Build Oil Refinery
By Adam Johnson [1] / AlterNet [2]
January 11, 2016
A new book by New Yorker writer Jane Mayer about the history of far-right
financing of elections has quite a revelation: the Koch Brothers father, and
patriarch of their fortune, Fred Koch, built an oil refinery for Nazi
Germany that was overseen by Hitler himself. The New York Times, which had
received an advance copy of the book, "Dark Money," reported [3]:
But the book is largely focused on the Koch family, stretching back to its
involvement in the far-right John Birch Society and the political and
business activities of the father, Fred C. Koch, who found some of his
earliest business success overseas in the years leading up to World War II.
One venture was a partnership with the American Nazi sympathizer William
Rhodes Davis, who, according to Ms. Mayer, hired Mr. Koch to help build the
third-largest oil refinery in the Third Reich, a critical industrial cog in
Hitler's war machine.
Koch Industries spokesman Ken Spain told the Times, "If the content of the
book is reflective of Ms. Mayer's previous reporting of the Koch family,
Koch Industries or Charles's and David's political involvement, then we
expect to have deep disagreements and strong objections to her
interpretation of the facts and their sourcing,"
The Koch brothers are major players in U.S. politics, having donated to a
number of far-right causes including deregulation [4], climate change denial
[5], anti-tax groups [6] and, most famously, the nominally grassroots [7]
right-wing movement generally known as the Tea Party. The Kochs' father
founded Tea Party predecessor the John Birch Society that dealt in similar
themes of anti-government paranoia that dovetailed nicely with the Kochs'
financial interests in pro-corporate deregulation efforts.
In 1934, Mayer details for the first time, Fred Koch's firm provided
engineering plans and began construction on an oil refinery near Hamburg
which help fuel the war machine including the Nazis infamous Luftwaffe air
fleet. The Washington Post reports [8] that the Kochs links to Nazi Germany
went beyond mere business:
For example, Mayer writes that the family patriarch, Fred Koch, admired
German discipline so much in the 1930s that he hired a fervent Nazi as a
governess for his eldest boys. "Dark Money" suggests that the experience of
being toilet trained by a Nazi may have contributed to Charles Koch's
antipathy toward government today.
Mayer's book also deals generally with the relationship between right-wing
oligarchs and U.S. policies. It includes accounts of the Bradleys, DeVoses,
the Scaifes, and other families who have used their great wealth to
influence the Republican party and conservative and libertarian media. The
hardcover of "Dark Money" is out [9] January 19th.
Adam Johnson is an associate editor at AlterNet. Follow him on Twitter at
@adamjohnsonnyc [10].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [11]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[12]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/report-koch-brothers-father-helped
-nazis-build-oil-refinery
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/adam-johnson-0
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped
-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html
[4] http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/covert-operations
[5]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elliott-negin/unreliable-sources-how-th_b_3255
192.html
[6] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html
[8]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/11/new-book-fat
her-of-politically-active-koch-brothers-built-a-refinery-for-the-nazis/
[9]
http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597/
ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452590265&sr=1-1&keywords=da
rk+money+jane+mayer
[10] https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonnyc
[11] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Report: Koch
Brothers' Father Helped Nazis Build Oil Refinery
[12] http://www.alternet.org/
[13] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
