The extraordinary life of Josef Ganz

by Paul Schilperoord

ISBN: 9781614122012

Published: 2012

The astonishing biography of Josef Ganz, a Jewish designer from Frankfurt, who in May 1931 created a revolutionary small car: the Maika¤fer (German for May bug). Seven years later Hitler introduced the Volkswagen. He not only 'took' the concept of Ganz's family car, he even used the same nickname. To this day the VW Beetle or Bug is considered one of the most important of all automobile designs. It incorporated many of the features of Ganz's original Maika¤fer, yet until recently Ganz received no recognition for his pioneering work. The Nazis did all they could to keep the Jewish godfather of the German compact car out of the history books. Now Paul Schilperoord sets the record straight. In a biography that reads like a spy thriller, he tells how Ganz was imprisoned by the Gestapo, until an influential friend with connections to Gaoring helped secure his release. Soon afterwards he was forced to flee Germany while Porsche created the Volkswagen for Hitler using many of his...