Mercedes in Peace and War: German Automobile Workers, 1903-1945

Bernard Bellon combines a detailed study of the daily lives of factory workers at Daimler-Benz with a broader discussion of the role of the automobile industry in the economic and political development of Germany from 1903 through the end of World War II. Bellon was allowed access to previously closed company files detailing the company's labour practices during the Nazi period. His account of the close ties of Daimler-Benz officials with the Nazi leadership, and of the management's enslavement of prisoners of war and inmates of concentration camps is an important contribution to the ongoing debate concerning the role of German industry in the Nazi regime.