HN 2: The British and their Works

Notes
1 For a more detailed discussion of Ivan Hirst’s achievements, see Ralf Richter:
Ivan Hirst. British officer and manager of Volkswagen’s postwar recovery, Wolfsburg
2003, p. 44 f. The Volkswagenwerk was not an isolated case. British and American
officers acted as managers during the reconstruction of numerous companies, some
of which were under Allied control for many years; cf. Alan Kramer: The West German
Economy, 1945-1955, New York, Oxford 1991, p. 113. Wellhöner implicitly acknowledges
the important role of the British trustees when he refers to the company’s early
export-orientated approach as a significant factor in its success on the world market
in the 1950s, stating: "The fordistic mass production only promised to increase the
Volkswagenwerk’s profitability because it recognised the world market as an
important cornerstone in its plans." Quoted from Volker Wellhöner:
Wirtschaftswunder – Weltmarkt – westdeutscher Fordismus. Der Fall Volkswagen,
Münster 1996, p. 192.
2 Hans Mommsen/Manfred Grieger: Das Volkswagenwerk und seine Arbeiter im
Dritten Reich, Düsseldorf 1996, p. 974. For a uniformly positive evaluation of
Nordhoff’s leadership qualities, see Heidrun Edelmann: Heinz Nordhoff und
Volkswagen. Ein deutscher Unternehmer im amerikanischen Jahrhundert,
Göttingen 2003.
3 Cf. Mommsen/Grieger, Volkswagenwerk, p. 949 ff. Contrary to the dates in this
publication, the occupation of the "KdF-Stadt" (the town that would later become
Wolfsburg) began on 11 th April 1945.
4 Udo Riechert: Neubeginn im Schatten der NS-Tyrannei. Gewerkschaften und
Betriebsräte in Braunschweig und Wolfsburg in den ersten Nachkriegsjahren,
Braunschweig 1987, p. 180 f.
5 Ian D. Turner: Das Volkswagenwerk – ein deutsches Unternehmen unter britischer
Kontrolle, in: Josef Foschepoth/Rolf Steininger (eds.): Die britische Deutschland- und
Besatzungspolitik 1945-1949, Paderborn 1985, p. 283; Hans Mommsen: Das
Volkswagenwerk und die "Stunde Null", in: Rosemarie Beier (ed.): aufbau west,
aufbau ost. Die Planstädte Wolfsburg und Eisenhüttenstadt in der Nachkriegszeit,
Stuttgart 1997, p. 130.
6 Richter, Ivan Hirst, p. 29 f., 53; Questions to Ivan Hirst, January/February 1996, p. 3
(Wolfsburg City Archive [StadtA WOB], Historical Archive [HA]); for the reorganisation
of the zones of occupation, see Wolfgang Benz: Potsdam 1945. Besatzungsherrschaft
und Neuaufbau im Vier-Zonen-Deutschland, Munich 1986, p. 73.
7 Richter, Ivan Hirst, p. 45 ff., 52 f., 81; for Hermann Münch’s assumption of office, see
chief trustee’s preliminary report, undated (Volkswagen AG Corporate Archives
[UVW], Z 69, no. 198).
8 Richter, Ivan Hirst, p. 37, 40; questions to Ivan Hirst, January/February 1996, p. 2
(StadtA WOB, HA).
9 Undated report to Captain Gower [probably from 23 rd June 1945] (UVW, Z 69, no. 130);
memorandum dated 25 th June 1945 regarding production and development projects
(UVW, Z 69, no. 198). The informations about the destruction of the machine
inventory differ slightly: According to Mommsen/Grieger, Das Volkswagenwerk,
p. 954, 93 per cent of the machinery was intact; Ralf Richter: Die Währungs- und
Wirtschaftsreform 1948 im Spiegel unternehmerischer Personalpolitik – Volkswagen,
1945-1950, in: Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte 48 (2003), no. 2, p. 219, talks of
92 per cent.
10 Guidelines for the supervision of distribution sites dated 18 th June 1945 (ibid.); cf.
Mommsen, Stunde Null, p. 129; for a detailed account of the effects of the
displacement programme on machine stocks, see Richter, Die Währungs- und
Wirtschaftsreform, p.219.
11 For the essential characteristics of British occupation policy, see Turner,
Das Volkswagenwerk, p. 283 f.
12 See Werner Plumpe: Wirtschaftsverwaltung und Kapitalinteresse im britischen
Besatzungsgebiet, in: Dietmar Petzina/Walter Euchner (eds.):
Wirtschaftspolitik im britischen Besatzungsgebiet, Düsseldorf 1984, p. 128 ff.
13 Steven Tolliday: Enterprise and State in the West German Wirtschaftswunder.
Volkswagen and the Automobile Industry, 1939-1962, in: Business History Review, 69
(1995), no. 3, p. 298; Turner, Occupation Policy, p. 182 ff. The special clauses in the
Potsdam Agreement allowed production to resume in plants designated for
dismantling, if the occupying powers needed the products for themselves; see
Falk Pingel: Der aufhaltsame Aufschwung. For economic plans for the British zone
in accordance with the occupying powers’ foreign policies, see: Petzina/Euchner,
Wirtschaftspolitik, p. 41-64, here p. 45.
14 Project concerning the production of 20,000 Volkswagens (UVW, Z 69, no. 198).
15 Questions to Ivan Hirst, January/February 1996, p. 8 (StadtA WOB, HA).
16 Richter, Ivan Hirst, p. 41, 49.
17 Internal memo to all heads of department dated 11 th September 1945
(UVW, Z 98, no. 3).
18 Hirst to Nordhoff, 7 th October 1948 (UVW, Z 69, no. 201).
19 Questions to Ivan Hirst, January/February 1996, p. 9, 12 f. (StadtA WOB, HA); travel
report about journey to Helmstedt and Harpke, 30 th May 1945 (UVW, Z 69, no. 198);
cf. also Mommsen, Stunde Null, p. 132 f.; for the warehouse, see Richter,
Die Währungs- und Wirtschaftsreform, p. 219.
20 Memorandum regarding production of pressed panels for Ford, 19 th June 1947
(UVW, Z 69, no. 232).
21 Cf. Turner, Das Unternehmen, p. 283 f.; Richter, Ivan Hirst, p. 60.
22 Tolliday, Volkswagen, p. 290 ff.; Mommsen/Grieger, Volkswagenwerk, p. 970.
23 Tolliday, Volkswagen, p. 293 ff.
24 Turner, Occupation Policy, p. 263 ff.
25 Questions to Ivan Hirst, January/February 1996, p. 18 (StadtA WOB, HA);
Richter, Ivan Hirst, p. 58 f.
26 Turner, Occupation Policy, p. 269 ff.
27 Hirst to chief trustee and general manager Münch, 21 st June 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 152).
28 For the number of denazified persons, see Turner, Occupation Policy, p. 272, and the
business review for the chief trustee’s report as at 1946 dated 7 th March 1947, p. 7
(UVW, Z 69, no. 198).
29 Hirst to chief trustee and general manager Münch, 20 th June 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 152);
Military Government - Germany, Property Control (No. 9901): Letter of Appointment
of Custodian dated 17 th June 1946 (UVW, Z 261, no. 1).
30 Lesczuk to Brörmann regarding effects of denazification, 25 th June 1946 (UVW, Z 69,
no. 152); meeting about the production of 2500 cars on 21 st June 1946 (UVW, Z 69,
no. 150).
31 Huland to Hirst, undated [21 st June 1946] (UVW, Z 69, no. 152); for the reemployment of
key staff, see the confidential letter from Hirst to the chief trustee Dr. Münch dated
20 th June 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 152); memorandum about meeting with Münch on
9 th July 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 157).
32 Brörmann to Hirst, 24 th June 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 152).
33 Münch to Hirst, undated [June 1946] (ibid.).
34 Ibid.
35 Memorandum from Kemmler dated 25 th June 1946 (ibid.).
36 Münch to personnel department, 29 th March 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 4001); for the
repression process in German society, see Aleida Assmann: Persönliche Erinnerung
und kollektives Gedächtnis in Deutschland nach 1945, in Hans Erler (ed.): Erinnern
und Verstehen. Der Völkermord an den Juden im Politischen Gedächtnis der
Deutschen, Frankfurt/Main, New York, p. 126-139, here p. 128 ff. and Peter Reichel:
Auschwitz, in: Etienne François/Hagen Schulze (eds.): Deutsche Erinnerungsorte,
volume I, 4 th ed., Munich 2002, p. 600-622, here p. 607 f.
37 Works council to Münch, 25 th June 1946 (UVW, Z 69, no. 152).
38 Interview with Ivan Hirst, 21 st -23 rd October 1997, p. 17 (UVW, Z 300, no. 33). This
assessment is supported by Fietz when, talking about the enforcement of the
denazification measures he maintains that "apparently, personal enmity, antipathy
and friendship often played a part." Fietz to Mr Huland, 21 st June 1946 (UVW, Z 69,
no. 152).
39 Brörmann to Münch, 27 th September 1946; Münch to Brörmann, 3 rd October 1946
(UVW, Z 69, no. 152).