Brilliant appliance brands that never worked with the nazis...?

[mummykanga]

Appliances - is it a stark choice between ones that work really well and last or ones owned by companies who worked using slave labour under the nazis?
According to wikipedia even AEG, Miele etc... anyone have a Montpelier dishwasher...? Anyone rate the F&P dishwashers (esp interested in the new more standard ones...?) Kenwood...?

Buy from the far east?

Well if the aim is to avoid doing business with companies with dodgy histories around WW2, not just a Nazi connection, you'd still need to be careful.

Just make sure never to drink Fanta as that was invented by the Germans to replace coca cola

And hope you never need an MRI scan

Er, do you know what the Japanese were like in WW2?

IBM punch card machines were used in the concentration camps to keep track of inmates and best exploit their capabilities. The infamous numbers tattooed on inmates' wrists were for their punch card.

IBM supplied equipment knowing what it was for and, if I remember correctly, its German subsidiaries or partners actually provided maintenance for the machines in the camps.

How far back in history are we expected to go? I mean, I imagine we are all here because at some point in our past one of our female relatives was raped. Guess we should just cancel ourselves.

She's looking for products that are made by companies who did not collaborate with the Nazis (and I presume the Japanese). This rules out all German companies and their successors, and maybe all Japanese too.

She could try Chinese or Korean brands. Both countries got the short end of the stick in WW2 and both industrialised from nothing afterwards. Chinese might be a dodgy bet though, for contemporary reasons (Uighurs, Tibet, human rights in general).

Jesus Christ. This is absolutely insane

Indeed.

And China uses forced labour right now, as part of its persecution of the Uyghur population.

IIRC Uyghur's are often forcible relocated around the country for this forced labour, as part of the attempt to essential destroy them as an ethnic or cultural group.

Honestly, why does it matter?

Companies aren't people. Yes, these companies may have worked with the Nazis, but that doesn't mean any of the people working there now ever did.

You're better off boycotting companies who are actually doing shitty things now, rather than ones who did the better part of a century ago.

Given the time that has elapsed, I would be choosing brands based on what happens now.

That's not to say companies like IMB should be able to pretend their history didn't happen. But these are different questions.

I thought those punch cards were used for keeping track of civilian populations outside of the camps (ethnic heritage, political.leanings, etc).

The Nazis weren't really interested in maximizing the capabilities of their prisoners - they would have fed and housed them properly if they really wanted to maximize productivity.

Bizarre

Do we stop wearing cotton? Drinking tea and coffee? Eating sugar? Living in the UK? Surely much more important to look at the current ethics and values of companies you might be considering buying from…

@mathanxiety , the punch cards were used outside the camps as well.

The Nazis were early adopters of data collection for controlling the population and found lots of uses for it.

For details of how they used punch card machines in the camps, read IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black.

Have you forgotten brands from South Korea like Samsung that are highly successful and have a good reputation?

Do you think the people running those companies or working for those companies in 2026 are Nazi supporters or support slave labour?

What due diligence are you doing on every other company you use for supplies or services to confirm that they are aligned to your political and moral values?

Have you verified all their environmental and social statements ?

Why focus on historical WWII issues? There is plenty of modern day slavery to be concerned about?

That's a valid point.

But perhaps if your relations had been exterminated in a concentration camp, you wouldn't be so keen to pay your money to a family owned company eg Miele, which is now run by descendents of people who did use slave labour to make armaments, and your own relative had been forced to work for them.

It might change your view. Of course "the sins of the fathers" etc, but in a family company like that it could very understandably be far too close for comfort.

Best go back to bashing clothes with rocks down at the stream I reckon.

Tis the only way

Let bygones be bygones OP

Is it just historic injustices you're concerned with or would you like guidance on companies with robust modern slavery, ethics and sustainability policies today?

Oh good lord, I cannot type today.

Please excuse typos littering above posts; I think the meaning is still decipherable.

Bosch ? Aren’t they a non profit who fund research?

You cannot turn back the clock to prevent the crimes of the past. Put your money where it can do most good today and tomorrow.