Henry Ford was an American industrialist and the founder of the Ford Motor Company.
As President and owner of Ford Motor Company, he pioneered the mass production of affordable automobiles. Taking the idea of the stationary assembly line, ( invented and patented by Ransom Eli Olds (1864-1950) ), Ford's innovation was to have the cars themselves moving along the line while the workers stayed more or less in position.
Awarded the Order of the German Eagle by the Nazi government of Germany.[1] Ford and his secretary, along with William Cameron, began a series of articles on "The Jewish Question", which would eventually be published in the anti-semitic book "The International Jew" which inspired many Nazi's in Germany.[2]
The use of slave labour in their factories during WWII.
Ford maintained a controlling interest (of 52 percent) in their Ford factory at Cologne, which produced roughly a third of the trucks used by the Nazis in WWII. Ford Germany also collaborated with the Germans at their Ford plant in occupied France. The value of the German subsidiary more than doubled during the war. [3][4]
Henry Ford was a pacifist. While he did not relinquish financial interest in German or French Ford plants during WWII, there is no evidence that he had any physical control. In the lead up to WWI he refused make war materials for anyone. But once America was at war, he retooled his factories to support the war effort. The same again in WWII, including building a factory to build B-24 bombers at Willow Run near Detroit. [5]
He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 83.
See also:
Featured Eurovision connections: Henry is 32 degrees from Agnetha Fältskog, 23 degrees from Anni-Frid Synni Reuß, 26 degrees from Corry Brokken, 21 degrees from Céline Dion, 24 degrees from Françoise Dorin, 23 degrees from France Gall, 30 degrees from Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, 29 degrees from Lill-Babs Svensson, 18 degrees from Olivia Newton-John, 31 degrees from Henriette Nanette Paërl, 34 degrees from Annie Schmidt and 18 degrees from Moira Kennedy on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.