Among others, Telefunken, Osram, IG Farben, AEG, and Günther Quandt gave contributions to Hitler’s election campaign.
On this day Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting with leading members of the German companies in order to gain their support before the upcoming parliamentary elections. It happened three weeks after he got hold of power by becoming the Chancellor of Germany. Namely, although he was chancellor, his party did not have majority in parliament, so his first concern was to do everything so that the Nazis completely dominate the parliament, and thus the state, at the next elections.
Hitler invited to a meeting some of the most influential German industrialists, for example the steel magnate Gustav Krupp, the automobile manufacturer Fritz von Opel, Günther Quandt (the Quandt family is still the owner of a large part of the BMW company), Kurt Schmitt (a board member of Allianz AG) and a representative from the Siemens company. In his speech to the industrialists, Hitler bad-mouthed democracy, which, according to him, was to be blamed for the rise of the communists. For a complete victory over the Communists he needed to arrange a majority in parliament. The industrialists, with their contributions, were supposed to support the Nazi party in their campaign. Among others, Telefunken, Osram, IG Farben, AEG and, Günther Quandt gave contributions to Hitler’s election campaign.
