Editing Volkswagen Group (section)

===1937 to 1945===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H06734, Grundsteinlegung für Werk des KdF-Wagens.jpg|thumb|left|150px|26 May 1938: Laying the foundation stone of the first Volkswagen plant by [[Adolf Hitler]]: In the front right is [[Ferdinand Porsche]]]]
Volkswagen (meaning 'People's car' in German) was founded in [[Berlin]] as the ''Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH'' ('Limited Liability Company for the preparation of the German People's Car', abbreviated to ''Gezuvor'') by the [[Nazi Party|National Socialist]] ''[[German Labour Front|Deutsche Arbeitsfront]]'' (German Labour Front) and incorporated in the ''Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben'', (''"''City of the [[Strength Through Joy]] car at [[Fallersleben]]) on 28 May 1937.{{Sfn|Volkswagen AG|2008a|p=1}}<ref name="porsche-75">{{cite web|url=http://www.porsche.com/international/aboutporsche/pressreleases/archive2009/quarter2/?pool=international-de&id=2009-06-16|title=Seventy-Five Years Ago: Porsche Receives the Order to Construct the Volkswagen|date=16 June 2009|work=porsche.com|publisher=[[Porsche AG]]|access-date=22 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028201216/http://www.porsche.com/international/aboutporsche/pressreleases/archive2009/quarter2/?pool=international-de&id=2009-06-16|archive-date=28 October 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sloniger">{{cite book|last=Sloniger|first=Jerry|title=The VW Story|publisher=Patrick Stephens|year=1980|isbn=0-85059-441-3}}</ref> The purpose of the company was to manufacture the Volkswagen car, originally referred to as the Porsche Type 60, then the Volkswagen Type 1, and commonly called the [[Volkswagen Beetle]].<ref name=VW-intl-hist>{{cite web |url=http://www.volkswagen.vn/vn/en/company/history.html |publisher=Volkswagen AG |title=Volkswagen Makes Automotive History |work=volkswagen.vn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729014948/http://www.volkswagen.vn/vn/en/company/history.html |archive-date=29 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This vehicle was designed by [[Ferdinand Porsche]]'s consulting firm, and the company was backed by the support of [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name=SmallWonder>{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Walter|title=Small Wonder|year=1967|publisher=Little, Brown & Company|page=333}}</ref> On 16 September 1938, Gezuvor was renamed ''Volkswagenwerk [[GmbH]]'' ('Volkswagen Factory GmbH').{{Sfn|Volkswagen AG|2008a|p=1}}

Shortly after the factory at [[Fallersleben]] was completed [[World War II]] started, and the plant primarily manufactured the military [[Volkswagen Kübelwagen|Kübelwagen]] (Porsche Type 82) and the related amphibious [[Schwimmwagen]] (Type 166), both of which were derived from the Volkswagen. Only a small number of Type 60 Volkswagens were made during this time. The Fallersleben plant also manufactured the [[V-1 (flying bomb)|V-1 flying bomb]], making the plant a major bombing target for the Allied forces.

[[Slave]] labour was utilised in the Volkswagen plant, e.g. from [[Arbeitsdorf]] concentration camp. The company would admit in 1998 that it used 15,000 slaves during the war effort. German historians estimated that 80% of Volkswagen's wartime workforce was slave labour.<ref>{{cite book |title=Management Systems and Performance Frameworks for Sustainability: A Road Map for Sustainably Managed Enterprises |last1=James |first1=Lowellyne |edition=illustrated |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-317-23450-0 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUhaDwAAQBAJ}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=nUhaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT17 Extract of page 17]</ref> Many of the slaves were reported to have been supplied from the [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] upon request from plant managers. A lawsuit was filed in 1998 by survivors for restitution for the forced labour.<ref>{{cite news|title=Volkswagen Faces Suit Over Jewish Slave Labor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/13/world/world-news-briefs-volkswagen-faces-suit-over-jewish-slave-labor.html |access-date=18 May 2011 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=13 June 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103234241/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/13/world/world-news-briefs-volkswagen-faces-suit-over-jewish-slave-labor.html |archive-date=3 November 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Volkswagen would set up a voluntary restitution fund.<ref>{{cite news |title=World: Americas German firms face slave labor case |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/162126.stm |access-date=18 May 2011 |work=BBC News |date=1 September 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529224344/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/162126.stm |archive-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>