Is Naziismthe FinalStageof Capitalism? 145regretted,for if Germanbig businesshadmanagedto buyHitlertherewouldprobably
havebeenno generalagreementfor war and the worldmightbe a betterplacetoday.”^106
Despitehis effortsto denythatthe Naziswereconsistentlyanti-capitalist,Richard
Grunbergeradmitsthatthe NaziPartyimposedregulationsthatforbadespecificjoint-
stockbusinessesfromissuingdividendsthatexceededthe company’s periodicexpenses
by 6 percent.Likewise,he admitsthatthe NaziParty’s supportersshowedloyaltyto the
partyon accountof its promiseto enact“statecurbson big firms” and departmentstores.
In spiteof departmentstoresnot beingcompletelyeliminatedunderthe ThirdReichin
the end,they“suffered...curtailment” to suchan extentthat,between 1933 and 1936,the
departmentstoresdid appear“to be headingfor extinction.... Publicagencieswere
forbiddento let departmentstores... tenderfor contracts.” The departmentstores“were
subjectedto a two-prongedmethodof attack:governmentalprohibitionson theireco-
nomicactivities...andboycottspromotedby the Partyandsuchaffiliatedformationsas
the Leagueof CivilServants.In 1935a localofficialof the LabourFrontcouldconfidently
threaten,‘If FrauW. is seenshoppingat Karstadt’s storeonceagainI shallhaveher
husbanddeprivedof his militarypension.’”^107
WasHitlera Stoogeof CorporateAmerica?
Havingfailedto provethatGermanbig businessput the Nazisin charge,several
governiststurntowardidentifyinglargeU.S.corporationsas the biggestfactorin placing
Hitleron the pathtowardglobalhegemony.As toldby anotherone ofThe Corporation’s
interviewees,filmmakerMichaelMoore,“I thinkone of the greatestuntoldstoriesof the
twentiethcenturyis the collusionbetweencorporations,especiallyin America,and Nazi
Germany,” suchas “howcorporationsfromAmericahelped” essentiallyto buildGerma-
ny “and supportthe earlyNaziregime,and then,as the warbrokeout,figureda wayto
keepeverythinggoing.”^108 Anotherleft-wingMichael—Parenti,professorof politicalsci-
ence—secondsthatassessment.Parentirevilesthe “hypocriticalquality” of U.S.-based
corporationsthatwrapthemselvesin the U.S.flag.Theirhypocrisyis “blatantlydis-
played” in their“dealingswiththe Naziregimebeforeand duringWorldWarII.”^109
Oneof the companiesthatMichaelMooretargetsfor abuseis Coca-Cola.He pro-
poundsthatduringthe SecondWorldWar,Coca-Colastill desiredto sell soft drinksin
Germany,albeitwithoutAmericansknowingthatit wasaccruingcashfromthe same
countrytheywerefighting.To get aroundthis,insistsMoore,the Coca-Colacompany
“inventedFantaOrangefor the Germans.... That’s howCokewasableto keepthe
profitscomingin” fromEurope.“So whenyou drinkFantaOrange,that’s the Nazidrink
thatwascreatedso thatCokecouldcontinuemakingmoneywhenmillionsof people
died.”^110
Thatthe producersofThe Corporationkeptthis scurrilousuntruthin theirfilmspot-
lightstheirineptitudein fact-checking.Snopes.Com, the websiterenownedfor debunking
urbanmyths,givesthe scoopon whatactuallyhappened.Priorto the war,Coca-Colaset
up a Germandivisionheadedby American-bornRayPowers.Abroad,Powershired
German-bornMaxKeith(his last nameis pronounced“kite”)^111 as his assistant.When
Powersdiedfromautomobileinjuries,Keithreplacedhimas the generalmanagerof
Coke’s Germandivision.
Whenwarbrokeout,communicationbetweenKeithandCoca-Cola’s homeofficein
Atlanta,Georgia,hadbeencut off. Keithassuredthe Coca-Colabottlersin neutralSwit-
zerlandthat he had no intentionof liquidatingCoke’s Germansubsidiary.As the war had
renderedit impossibleto secureingredientsfor Cokeproduction,though,Keithwasable
to produceandsell fewerbottles’ worththanbefore.To keepthe cashflowgoing,he
decidedthat he had to marketsomenewsoft drinkassembledfromingredientsthat were