Adolf Hitler and his entourage posing in front of the Eiffel Tower shortly after the fall of France - 1940. TIL Hugo Boss designed the uniforms for the Nazis.
Posted Jan 16, 2018, 6:08 PM UTC
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Posted Jan 16, 2018, 6:08 PM UTC
Mad album cover
The Hugo Boss company was one among several companies that manufactured uniforms for the military and police both before, during, and after the war. There is no evidence it designed them.
The company also used slave labor and prisoners of war in its manufacturing process.
After the discovery of a Swiss bank account owned by Hugo that tied him to the Nazis, the company itself commissioned a study by German historian Roman Koster named Hugo Boss. 1924-1945. The History of a Clothing Factory During the Weimar Republic and Third Reich.
I am not aware of an English translation, but the essential information on this point is published in various stories widely available in English. According to Koster, there is “no indication that the Hugo Boss company played any kind of leading role in [the uniform production] sector. Nor do the available sources indicate in any way that it was involved in designing uniforms.”
Everything else you read about the company supposedly designing the uniforms or Boss serving as Hitler's personal tailor is manufactured from baseless suppositions (aka the book of "Pulled from Thin Air") about the role the company would play based on its modern reputation.
[deleted]
Right.
After the war, like a lot of people with apparent selective amnesia, he claimed he only joined the party to "save" his company. However, he was a rather early adopter of the Nazi ideology (which is to say, before being a Nazi would seem to have helped his company in any way) and, as mentioned, used slave labor when it became available to him. He seems, then, to have been at the very least consciously complicit, if not eager.
Thank you. This is why I’m so happy I found this sub. Learning so much here!