How Porsche's Co-founder was Erased from History

How Nazi Germany erased Porsche’s Jewish co-founder, Adolf Rosenberger, from history

Jewish Porsche co-founder Adolf Rosenberger was ousted under Nazi pressure, new research reveals, exposing how he was erased from the automaker’s early history.

Stuttgart, Germany — Jewish racing driver and businessman Adolf Rosenberger was a co-founder of automaker Porsche, but according to new research based on previously unpublished documents, he was pushed out of the company during the Nazi era.

"It was a multi-pronged process," German historian Joachim Scholtyseck, whose work has been acknowledged by the international sports car manufacturer, told dpa.

Rosenberger was responsible for securing financing for the design firm and ensuring that drivable prototypes were developed into new models, although the poor economic climate of the Great Depression hampered the company's progress.

Rosenberger, who died in Los Angeles in 1967, has been almost forgotten by the public, said Scholtyseck.

The author's book about Rosenberger was released in German in October. An English version entitled "Driven Out - Adolf Rosenberger – Race Car Driver and Porsche Co-founder" is due to appear on December 5.

Rosenberger founded Porsche in 1931 together with Ferdinand Porsche and his lawyer son-in-law, Anton Piëch. He had a decisive influence on the design office in its early stages and contributed to its development as a partner and managing director.

"The independent study is an important contribution to the culture of remembrance," said Porsche chief executive Oliver Blume to mark publication of the Rosenberger book.

"The company is intensively examining its own past and facing up to its responsibility."

Rosenberger's racing career ended abruptly in 1926 after a serious accident at the Grand Prix in Berlin left three people dead. He was severely injured in the crash.

Rosenberger's life after Porsche

Scholtyseck reported that Rosenberger left Porsche's management board at the beginning of 1933. At that time, the company was not doing well and was "on the verge of bankruptcy."

Rosenberger then went to Paris for Porsche, but retained his 10% share in the company at a time when its fortunes suddenly changed.

By 1934, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler had seized power in Germany, and Porsche was given the task of coming up with a "people's car" that cost no more than 1,000 Reichsmarks - or around $8,200 in today's money.

"At the end of July 1935, Rosenberger was effectively forced out of the company as a partner," writes Scholtyseck. According to additional information provided by Porsche, he was even temporarily imprisoned in a concentration camp in Kislau, Baden, at that time.

In 1937, Porsche finally parted ways with Rosenberger, who sold his stake to the others for a knock-down fee and continued to live in the French capital. By then, the pressure from government authorities in Germany had become too great, said Scholtyseck.

The author said Rosenberger's biography would do little to alter the already tarnished image of automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche (1875 to 1951). "None of this surprised me," he said.

Some of the facts are, however, already known to experts. In his 2022 book "Nazi Billionaires," David de Jong quotes Rosenberger as saying: "I don't accuse Mr. Porsche and Mr. Piëch at any rate of personal anti-Semitism," although Rosenberger later said "they used my membership as a Jew to get rid of me cheaply."

Porsche and Piëch denied this. However, regardless of their motive, the duo's acquisition of Rosenberger's Porsche stake was an "Aryanization," said de Jong.

The Nazis were pleased with Porsche and made him the military economy leader and chairman of the influential Tank Commission. After the war, the French occupation authorities detained him for 22 months. They accused Porsche of using forced labourers, but he was never charged as a war criminal.

Rosenberger, meanwhile, emigrated to the United States in 1938, where, according to Porsche, he lived under the name Alan A. Robert. A restitution case that ended in a settlement in 1950 severed ties with Porsche for good but yielded only meagre financial results for him.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-869746

Often missing from the company's founding history is the mention of co-founder Adolf Rosenberger, who was Aryanized out of his 10% stake in the company by Porsche and his pugnacious son-in-law, Anton Piëch.

Rosenberger was a retired racecar driver and the firm's primary investor and fundraiser until 1935 when his shares were taken over by Ferdinand's ambitious 25-year-old son, Ferry Porsche. In exchange for his founding stake, Rosenberger was paid a fraction of its true value, just 3,000 Reichsmarks, which was the same amount of money he originally invested in the company years earlier.  

'They used my membership as a Jew to get rid of me cheaply,' Rosenberger said later.

Porsche and his pugnacious son-in-law, Anton Piëch, Aryanized their Jewish co-founder's 10% stake in the car design firm for a fraction of its true value. Rosenberger (pictured) was a retired racecar driver who was the company's financial backer and fundraiser. He was pushed out of the business in 1935, and his shares were transferred to Porsche's  ambitious 25-year-old son and successor.  'They used my membership as a Jew to get rid of me cheaply,' Rosenberger later said

Five weeks after the takeover, Rosenberger was arrested by the Gestapo and charged with 'race defilement' for dating a gentile girl. When he appealed to his former colleagues to 'help save his life' - Porsche and Piëch did nothing. Rosenberger was placed in a concentration camp where he endured four days of beatings before he was finally released. 

Rosenberger fled to America in 1940 where he changed his name to Alan Robert and settled in Los Angeles penniless. 

Rosenberger filed for restitution in 1948, to which he was offered a minimal settlement. His lawyer accepted the meager settlement without consulting him.