I recognize that these are deeply personal questions, but may I ask you some questions about your reasons on some of the aforementioned car brands?
@serge @josh0 Sure. In a nutshell it鈥檚 that I perceive that each of them was either closely associated with Hitler and/or used Jewish slaves.
I鈥檓 not an expert on this but that鈥檚 what it boils down to.
I鈥檓 always open to learning more and even learning that I was mistaken about something. Even this. But that鈥檚 my current understanding.
I have complex feelings on this (a Jew with complex and conflicting feelings on a topic- what are the odds?!).
Let's take these companies involvement with the Holocaust as a given- at least for this discussion.
Here's where things get tricky for me. That was a long time ago. The people involved with those actions are long gone.
Moreover I think about my two grandfathers, my American grandfather, and my French grandfather.
My American grandfather fought in WW2. He served in Japan, and for the rest of his life refused to buy a Japanese car.
My French grandfather was born and raised in Poland. He was thrown into a ghetto then 5 concentration camps, from age 14-19. The Nazis killed his entire family and stole their land.
He was liberated and he moved to France.
He owned BMWs. I don't think he did it as an act of "forgiveness", nor forgetting- no one could forget the tortures he endured- but because he saw it otherwise depriving himself.
Any thoughts?
That all makes a ton of sense. I鈥檓 sympathetic to all of that and have not the slightest bit of disdain for any Jew who sees things differently than me, who drives BMWs or whatever.
To attempt to clarify: I have no resentment or disdain for the people who own them or work for those companies today. I think they have done nothing wrong.
It鈥檚 more about the brands and their histories.
Personally, knowing that Hitler personally founded VW makes it just impossible for me personally to own a VW. Just completely impossible.
I owned a Mini a few years ago and had no problem with that, even though the profits went to BMW, as a Mini is actually just a BMW with a different badge. In fact it鈥檚 the badge itself that鈥檚 the real problem for me. It鈥檚 literally the name and the logo.
See, people eventually die. And even if their descendents have the same surname, hell, that鈥檚 not their fault. Humans are not responsible for the actions of their ancestors.
Companies, however, are entities that have no specific lifespan. They have a persistent identity. The BMW that exists today is the same entity that used Jewish slave labor. And no matter how much they have disavowed their past, or apologized, or tried to make amends, that鈥檚 not enough for me.
For me, the only step that would suffice would be for them to change their names and their logos. To disavow their heritage. To state that their history and their brand is indelibly tainted with their past actions, and the only way to move forward with a clean slate is to dissasociate themselves from their prior incarnations.
I have no illusions; that鈥檚 not going to happen. I accept that. This is just how I personally think about it.