Someone probably should tell Israel that Adidas made shoes and anti-tank weaponsey for the Nazis. Don’t forget that the founder was a Nazi party member.
Both Dassler brothers joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in May 1933 and became members of the National Socialist Motor Corps. Adolf took the rank of Sportwart in the Hitler Youth from 1935 until the end of the war. During the war, the company was running the last sport shoe factory in Germany and predominantly supplied the Wehrmacht with shoes. In 1943, their shoe production was forced to cease operations and the company’s facilities and workforce was used to manufacture anti-tank weapons. From 1942 to 1945, at least nine forced labourers were working at both sites of the company.
To be fair, Adidas did give a pair of shoes to Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympics. Adidas may not be full on Nazis however they were willing to work with the Nazis to make money.
So I guess in Israel’s mind: Donating money to Palestinians to help with relief during the war is bad while working with the Nazis is fine.
It’s not like manufacturers had much choice in what they produced back then, the Nazis had a command economy. It was basically be expropriated or do as we say. The whole Nazi accusation stuff goes deeper than that, though, in particular, it includes a whole family feud:
During the war Rudolf Dassler was called to the front, while Adi Dassler stayed home. Rudolf came to believe, and the truth has never been properly established, that Adi pulled strings to have him sent to the front and after the Allied powers first shut down the company (because war supplier) and then re-opened it (because Jesse Owens) Rudolf told the Allies about the forced labour aspect. Frenchmen, btw.
The brothers quickly became irreconcilable and split the company. Rudolf then founded Puma taking with him basically all the sales staff, Adi was left with a ton of shoemakers and re-named the company Adidas. Their families and companies are feuding to this day.
That is to say: You don’t impress Adidas by saying “boycott Adidas”. Go with “buy Puma”, instead.
It’s important to keep in mind there were full on Nazis that weren’t entirely on board with the race science shit. Some just liked the economic side or wished the Jews would be elsewhere or whatever else. In the same way that some people vote Republican today over a single issue. That’s not a defense but rather a further condemnation, they were willing to join despite these things
Someone probably should tell Israel that Adidas made shoes and anti-tank weaponsey for the Nazis. Don’t forget that the founder was a Nazi party member.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adidas
To be fair, Adidas did give a pair of shoes to Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympics. Adidas may not be full on Nazis however they were willing to work with the Nazis to make money.
So I guess in Israel’s mind: Donating money to Palestinians to help with relief during the war is bad while working with the Nazis is fine.
It’s not like manufacturers had much choice in what they produced back then, the Nazis had a command economy. It was basically be expropriated or do as we say. The whole Nazi accusation stuff goes deeper than that, though, in particular, it includes a whole family feud:
During the war Rudolf Dassler was called to the front, while Adi Dassler stayed home. Rudolf came to believe, and the truth has never been properly established, that Adi pulled strings to have him sent to the front and after the Allied powers first shut down the company (because war supplier) and then re-opened it (because Jesse Owens) Rudolf told the Allies about the forced labour aspect. Frenchmen, btw.
The brothers quickly became irreconcilable and split the company. Rudolf then founded Puma taking with him basically all the sales staff, Adi was left with a ton of shoemakers and re-named the company Adidas. Their families and companies are feuding to this day.
That is to say: You don’t impress Adidas by saying “boycott Adidas”. Go with “buy Puma”, instead.
It’s important to keep in mind there were full on Nazis that weren’t entirely on board with the race science shit. Some just liked the economic side or wished the Jews would be elsewhere or whatever else. In the same way that some people vote Republican today over a single issue. That’s not a defense but rather a further condemnation, they were willing to join despite these things
Netanyahu only regrets that Hugo Boss isn’t still around to make his uniforms.