Coco Chanel

As much as I LOVE 40's fashion, this is not a post about fashion (although that's not a bad idea). I came across an article on Coco Chanel and her extracurricular activities during WWII. Apparently she spent the war years in Paris living in the Ritz with a Nazi officer. After the war and the search for Nazi collaborators was on she was reported to have offered this up as an excuse: “Really, sir, a woman of my age cannot be expected to look at his passport if she has a chance of a lover.” It was also reported that Winston Churchill himself spared her from the punishment of public humiliation that the other French women who were Nazi collaborators received. Even today Chanel has been spared the humiliation of supporting Nazis. I myself have a poster of Marilyn Monroe holding a bottle of Chanel No.5.

A French woman having her head shaved as a form of punishment for collaborating with the Nazis:


This got me thinking about other companies that could be linked to Nazi Germany. I was shocked to find that Volkswagens were quite literally created by and for Hitler. He wanted to create a well built but economical car for the German people. The literal translation of Volkswagen is "people's car." Hitler specifically requested that Ferdinand Porsche create a four-seater car with a streamlined shape "like a beetle."

It is approximated that 80% of VW's wartime workforce were slave laborers from concentration camps.

Another surprising company that supported the Nazis was Coca-Cola. They advertised in Nazi publications and continued to made product for the Nazi party. When they could no longer get the sugar syrup from the United States to make their drink they created Fanta, the fruit flavored soda. That's right, Fanta was created for Nazi soldiers by Coca-Cola. I'm never going to be able to drink a delicious Fanta grape soda without thinking of this ever again.