Everyone Knows The Man Behind 'The People's Car,' But The Real Story Is Much More Disturbing

Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany led to President Paul von Hindenburg appointing him as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. From there, Hitler's path to becoming a dictator was short. After Hindenburg's death in August 1934, Hitler had full control of Germany.

It was also during 1934 that Ferdinand Porsche, the German-born engineer and car maker, submitted his design for a compact, affordable family car. He was not the first individual to conceptualize a car designed for the people (Bela Barenyl and Josef Ganz, for example, had also designed versions), but the Reich Association of the German Automobile Industry commissioned Porsche for the task. Porsche was told to design an automobile that could be priced at 990 Reichsmark. 

Much of what both Porsche and Hitler wanted to do was driven by the innovations and successes of Henry Ford. His factories, domination of the American automotive industry, and presence in Germany were as much of an inspiration as a threat. Alongside Ford's plant at Cologne, General Motors opened a factory in Russelsheim, another signal to Porsche and Hitler that Germany needed to up its presence in the automotive industry. 

According to Wolfram Pyta from the University of Stuttgart, the two men were “made for each other.” Pyta continued:

Hitler needed a creative mind to produce his compact car suitable for mass production… And Porsche needed political backing to enable him to build it without financial pressure.

By 1936, it became clear that private automobile manufacturers were unable to make a car that met Adolf Hitler's demands. Ferdinand Porsche made several prototypes for cars to, in Hitler's words, make Germany,

An energetic, racially homogenous, highly militarized, and technologically modern ‘people’s community' that brought previously unaffordable consumer goods within the reach of ordinary citizens.

There was some talk of a motorcar for the people (the term Volkswagen was not used) that would have three wheels and motorcycle engines (mini-cars called Kleinstwagens) or four-wheeled automobiles with larger cylinder engines (small cars called Kleinwagens). The latter won out, but that made the desired price even more difficult to attain.

In response to the challenges of private automobile manufacturers hitting the 990 Reichsmark price point, the German government took over. In 1937, Hitler announced that the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront or DAF) would manufacture the automobiles instead. 

Dubbed the “Strength Through Joy” car (Kraft durch Freude wagen), the KdFwagen was now under the authority of the German government instead of under the auspices of the private automotive industry. 

Hitler had already made the prospect of what would be called the Volkswagen or “People's Car” known to the public, and hundreds of thousands of Germans had already started saving for the automobile - and signed contracts to get one. It wasn't until May 1938 that Hitler ceremoniously laid the foundation stone at the Fallersleben (later Wolfsburg) Volkswagen factory in Lower Saxony.

Volkswagens were intended for civilian and military purposes alike. As a civilian car that promoted leisure and recreation, the Third Reich advertised Volkswagens to encourage hard work in order to save for a car and toward ideal notions of the family out on the open Autobahn together. Posters read:

You must save 5 Marks a week if you want your own car. 

When World War II started, however, the Volkswagen factory at Fallersleben (later called Wolfsburg [the castle there was featured on the VW emblem during the 1950s and early 1960s]) shifted production to support the German military. Per the Volkswagen Group website, no cars had been made there when the war began on September 1, 1939, and the facility was retooled “for armaments production… [and] the company's entire operations were realigned.” 

The facility handled repairs for aircraft used by the Luftwaffe and, in 1940, started making automobiles for the army. This only increased during WWII:

Mass production of military utility vehicles (Kübelwagen), and then from 1942 amphibious personnel carriers, established a second arm of the business. By the end of the war the plant had built a total of 66,285 vehicles.

To provide the manpower for Fallersleben (Wolfsberg), the Third Reich established a concentration camp on the grounds of the plant. Called Arbeitsdorf, the labor camp opened in 1942, but as early as 1941, concentration camp prisoners, prisoners of war, and other forced laborers were involved in production at the facility.

Ferdinand Porsche and Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer of the SS, made the decision to use prisoners at Arbeitsdorf. Adolf Hitler supported the decision, issuing a memo that stated, in part:

The completion and commissioning as well as the continued expansion of the foundries, especially the light metal foundry at the Volkswagen Werk, are to be accelerated with all means available… [I approve the] transfer [of] the completion, expansion, and operation of these foundries to the Reichsführer- SS and Head of the German Police, who will provide the workforce from the concentration camps. The Reichsführer- SS is to take the responsibility for the implementation of these instructions in the shortest period of time. The factory must have started operations by the fall 1942 at the latest.

The deadline established by Hitler was met, but Albert Speer, the head of the Ministry of Armaments and War Production, refused to fully cooperate with Himmler and the SS. The camp was closed by the end of 1942 but was considered a training ground of sorts for how to effectively use prisoner labor. Two satellite camps were later established at Laagberg near Fallersleben in 1944. One camp was for men, and the other was for women, although prisoners from Neuengamme occupied both. 

Whether they were housed on the grounds of Arbeitsdorf or at the satellite camps near Fallersleben, prisoners helped build thousands of Volkswagen vehicles between 1940 and 1945. Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, or the “swimming car,” was an amphibious vehicle used by Germany during the war built at Fallersleben, as was the Volkswagen Kubelwagen, a light utility vehicle akin to a jeep.