BMW in the National Socialist era.

Under the National Socialists, BMW turned from a mobility company into an armaments manufacturer and became a key player in Germany’s war economy. Production of motorcycles and cars continued, but the lion’s share of revenues was generated by aero-engines. As the country armed itself, BMW set up new plants and ramped up production significantly.

During the war, the company management had no qualms about using forced labour and concentration camp prisoners to achieve the output needed. The labourers would toil in terrible conditions, often dying of hunger or exhaustion. BMW bears a major share of the responsibility for these crimes as well as a burden of guilt from its involvement in them.

Today, facing up to its history and critically reviewing its past, the BMW Group has contributed to compensation payments and supported academic dissertations examining this dark chapter of its history. We are fully aware of our social responsibility, and as a global corporation with employees from 124 different countries at our German sites alone, we encourage a culture of tolerance and equity. We actively advocate for an open and free society without discrimination.

Based on our history and on the values we uphold, we have developed a mandate for action to define our current and future social engagement. We support projects examining our past, to prevent future injustices. What’s more, many of our employees actively foster tolerance, openness and diversity beyond the workplace, supporting social projects worldwide that promote multicultural coexistence.

In addition, in 2011 we signed the Diversity Charter (‘Charta der Vielfalt’), committing ourselves to creating a working environment that’s free from prejudice.

Wehrmacht soldiers ride BMW R 75 motorbikes with sidecars.

FROM CARS AND BIKES TO ARMAMENTS.

When the National Socialists seized power in 1933, BMW’s business environment changed fundamentally. As the Third Reich pursued a vigorous policy of rearmament, BMW became a major player in the German arms industry. To conceal the rise in incoming orders and the rearmament of the Luftwaffe, aero-engine production was hived off to form a dedicated aircraft engine production company called BMW Flugmotorenbau GmbH. As a private limited organisation (GmbH), this wholly-owned subsidiary was not subject to the same obligation as a public limited company (AG) to publish its figures, so the burgeoning orders for aero-engines did not show up on the balance sheet.

But with just two plants, in Munich and Eisenach, the company found itself unable to keep pace with the output the Reich Ministry of Aviation demanded – on top of motorcycle and car production (in Munich and Eisenach respectively). So, two more plants were built: München-Allach (now MTU Aero Engines) in 1936 and Eisenach-Dürrerhof in 1937. Erected with the help of substantial government funds through the state-owned Luftfahrtkontor GmbH, the new facilities were planned from the outset as ‘shadow’ or ‘woodland’ plants and camouflaged accordingly.

When production of the liquid-cooled BMW VI aero-engine was discontinued in 1937, BMW – and the Siemens subsidiary Brandenburgische Motorenwerke GmbH (BRAMO) – concentrated purely on the manufacture of air-cooled engines, starting with the BMW 132 and then from 1940 the BMW 801 as well. The focus on air-cooled engines led BMW to establish a development cooperation with BRAMO, which BMW ultimately took over in 1939. It was this acquisition that brought the two Berlin plants – in Spandau and Basdorf – into BMW’s possession. Production of the Bramo 323 Fafnir continued until 1943.

In 1940 came another plant, Zühlsdorf, which was situated just opposite Basdorf. In 1941 Zühlsdorf and Basdorf merged to form the Niederbarnimer Flugmotorenwerke GmbH, Berlin.

BMW manufactured aero-engines in every one of its plants, with the large-scale facilities in Allach and Dürrerhof delivering the highest output.

AERIAL VIEW OF THE BMW’S DÜRRERHOF PLANT IN EISENACH.

Its ‘woodland’ design is clearly recognisable from above.

BMW’S ALLACH PLANT IN MUNICH.

Located on the edges of a woodland area, the plant in Allach was painted for extra camouflage.

The huge expansion of the company is clear from its figures: in 1933 a workforce of 6,514 generated revenues of 35.56 million Reichsmark. By 1939 the headcount was 26,918, with revenues totalling 275.5 million Reichsmark. And by 1944 there were 56,213 workers generating 750 million Reichsmark.

Manufacturing activities focused on the BMW 132, Bramo 323 Fafnir and twin radial BMW 801 engines, as well as the BMW 003 jet engine, which entered production in 1944. BMW also manufactured motorcycles like the BMW R 75 for the Wehrmacht, and from 1938-40 it made the standard BMW 325 passenger car for them as well. In 1941 the government ordered the cessation of automobile production, leaving the company to focus fully on the manufacture of military armaments.

FOREIGN AND FORCED LABOUR.

Fuelled by government armaments orders, by the mid 1930s the German economy found itself facing a huge shortage of labour. As a result, women were recruited into the workforce, although this ran counter to the National Socialist ideology. The situation was further exacerbated by the start of the Second World War, when a great many workers were called up to join the Wehrmacht. To continue meeting production targets, in late 1939 Eisenach started using Polish prisoners of war. BMW also attempted to recruit workers from occupied territories and allied countries, with preference being given to those from western Europe with previous technical knowledge. These ‘foreign workers’, as they were known, had similar rights and entitlements to social benefits to German workers.

Workers from western and southern Europe mostly received better treatment and remuneration than those from Poland or so-called ‘eastern workers’, and living and working conditions differed hugely, depending on where the workers came from. As the war progressed, however, ‘foreign workers’ gradually lost their rights and privileges and slowly slipped into forced-labourer status. Forced labourers across the board had to endure insufficient food and poor accommodation – which drastically deteriorated even further as the war continued.

Production of BMW 801 aero-engines.

CONCENTRATION CAMP PRISONERS IN ALLACH.

Prisoners from Dachau perform final checks in aero-engine production. They were interned in specially erected satellite camps.

From 1941 BMW recruited prisoners of the SS, as well as concentration camp prisoners from 1942. Allach and Dürrerhof erected their own satellite camps specially for the purpose, and by the end of 1944, some 29,000 forced labourers were working for BMW. They accounted for more than half of its workforce. Without such extensive use of forced labour, mass production would not have been possible: the labourers would be forced to toil for up to 12 hours a day. For ‘eastern workers’ and concentration camp prisoners especially, even the slightest incident could lead to harassment, violence or even death. Mortality rates among these two groups were particularly high.

At the end of the Second World War, most of the surviving forced labourers left Germany, which had been destroyed by the conflict. With their departure, memories of the horrors and crimes committed against them largely began to fade. Like most German companies, BMW was long in denial about its responsibility in this chapter of its history.

In the early 1980s BMW began to face up to its involvement with forced labour, with Horst Mönnich’s book ‘Vor der Schallmauer’. In the late 1990s it became a founding member of Remembrance, Responsibility, Future. This foundation initiative by the German economy has since paid out compensation to forced labourers and remains dedicated to examining the past. BMW has also had its involvement in National Socialism – and its use of forced labour especially – investigated in two dissertation projects by independent academics.

PLACE OF REMEMBRANCE.

Since June 2020 the BMW Museum in Munich has had a dedicated space exploring the topic of forced labour at BMW. It is called the Place of Remembrance and houses an exhibition of wide-ranging information, images, reports and historical documents on BMW’s role as an armaments manufacturer and exploitation of forced labour. The exhibition aims not only to address this dark chapter in the company’s history but also to educate and inform so as to prevent similar injustices from occurring in the future.

Some of the historical documents and further information on the exhibition can also be viewed at the BMW Group Archive.

To the BMW Group Archive

The BMW Group is fully aware of its social responsibility, and based on this dark chapter of our history, we have developed a mandate for action that defines our social commitment.

The company has supported the Jerusalem Foundation since 1989 with a programme from the Adam Institute for Democracy and Peace to teach democratic values and peace education in Israel. Since 2011, the BMW Group has been working with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) to overcome intercultural challenges through social innovations. With the lntercultural Innovation Hub, we are creating a unique network that will bring nations and cultures together, strengthen organisations and promote intercultural innovation projects. Our work focuses, in particular, on supporting gender equality and countering violent extremism, hatred and prejudice, as well as on promoting social cohesion and diversity through the arts, culture and sports.

In Germany the BMW Group actively supports the integration of refugees with projects such as Work Here!. Running since 2015 in conjunction with the federal labour office (Bundesagentur für Arbeit), Work Here! offers several-week training programmes for refugees to experience various departments. This approach gives them an idea of how the German labour market works and what they need. Since 2016 more than 500 refugees have taken part.

This appreciation and support for (cultural) diversity is also reflected within our company: the employees at our German sites alone come from 124 different countries. In 2011 we signed the Diversity Charter (Charta der Vielfalt), making a further commitment to creating a working environment that is free from prejudice.

So, our values as a company are more than just empty promises: they are something we actively put into practice.

Page Overview: BMW during the era National Socialist