18. Great Industrialist Henry Ford Was a Raging Anti-Semite
Great American businessman Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), founder of Ford Motor Company, was a complex man. It was not the good kind of complex, however, when it came to Jews. On the one hand, Ford was relatively progressive for his era in some racial aspects. His was one of the few major corporations that actively recruited black workers, and did not discriminate against Jewish workers or suppliers.
On the other hand, Ford had strong anti-Semitic views. So anti-Semitic as a matter of fact, that Hitler singled him out for praise in Mein Kampf, and identified him as one of his inspirations. He showed his appreciation for Ford’s anti-Semitism by bestowing upon him Germany’s highest award for foreigners. It is thus unsurprising that Ford got his company to collaborate with the Third Reich.