Did You Know?

Did you know that Hugo Boss (1885−1948) was a fanatical Nazi? Boss was a German fashion designer and founder of Hugo Boss AG. Prior to serving in the German army during World War I, Boss ran his parents’ lingerie shop in Metzingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg (southwest Germany). After the war, Boss returned to Metzingen and started his own company beginning with the creation of shirts, jackets, and work clothing. Boss joined the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP), or Nazi party in 1931 after more than three years of supplying the NSDAP with uniforms for Hitler’s Sturmabteilung (SA), or “Brownshirts.” He immediately became a sponsoring member of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and over the next ten years, Boss joined various Nazi sponsored organizations resulting in greater revenue for his company.

While the black uniforms of the SS were designed by members of the Schutzstaffel, the Hugo Boss company manufactured them (and likely had input to the design). By 1938, the company turned its attention to creating and manufacturing uniforms for the Wehrmacht, Hitler Youth, and the Waffen-SS (i.e., the armed division of the Schutzstaffel). About 180 Polish and French women were forced to work as slave labor in the Hugo Boss factory.

Heinrich Himmler (left) and Ernst Röhm (right). Röhm was the leader of the Sturmabteilung, or “Brown Shirts.” Both uniforms were supplied to Hitler by Hugo Boss and his company. Photo by anonymous (c. 1933). Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14886/CC-BY-SA. PD-.CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.

During the denazification process after the war, Boss was categorized as an “Offender” who profited from the Nazis and the war. However, upon appeal, he was re-classified as a “Follower” but still banned from running the business (his son-in-law took over). Why did it take until 2011 for the company to issue an apology for its role in the war and the use of forced labor? I could not find a section in the company’s website about its history or founder. This is not surprising. Most German companies do not highlight their activities or affiliations during the rise of the Third Reich or World War II (click here to read the blog, An African American in Paris).

I’d like to thank Martin B. for sharing the story of Hugo Boss with me and suggesting we incorporate it into one of the blogs.

Paul Ogorzow

Paul Ogorzow (1912−1941) was born in East Prussia (now Poland). He was the illegitimate son of a farm worker, Marie Saga. By the time he was twelve, Paul had been adopted by Johann Ogorzow and Paul eventually took Johann’s surname as his own. Working in a steel foundry, Ogorzow joined the Nazi party in 1931 and became a member of Hitler’s paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA), or “Brownshirts.” After the Nazis took power in 1933, Ogorzow received promotions ultimately ending as a Scharführer, or SA squad leader. One year later, Ogorzow was hired to work for the national railroad, Deutsche Reichsbahn. Read More

Volume One Available Now!

Our new book, Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? A Walking Tour of Nazi-Occupied Paris, is available for sale direct from Stew and Yooper Publications.

The price of the book is $24.95. All books sold directly will be autographed with a personal message. Sales tax will be covered by Yooper Publications.

For our domestic subscribers, we’ll pay the postage. For our international subscribers (and non-subscribers), the cost of postage will be added to the cost of the book.

If you would like to own and read our new book, please contact Sandy directly at sandy.ross@yooperpublications.com. Your review of the book on Amazon would be greatly appreciated (click here).

This is the first of three volumes on the occupation of Paris. I hope you enjoy the following preview of the book.

The False War & Vichy, 1940-1944

BRING OCCUPIED PARIS TO LIFE

(without obtaining a ration card to survive)

Come walk in the footsteps of the men, women, and children who lived, worked, and died in Nazi-occupied Paris. Your walks will take you to buildings, places, and sites that were significant to the Nazis, French Resistance, Free French, the British, and most importantly, the citizens of Paris.

“Maybe I’ll protect it; maybe I won’t. It’s up to me.”

Adolf Hitler

(to Albert Speer on the fate of Paris sometime during their three-hour tour of Paris on the morning of 28 June 1940)

Although World War II and the German occupation of Paris occurred more than 75 years ago, these historical events are still fresh in our minds. France spent almost 40 years denying its role in the collaboration with the Nazis and in particular, the arrests and deportations of the French Jewish population. While the German occupation of Paris started out rather benignly in June 1940, within two years the city and its citizens were firmly in the grip of the tightening Nazi vise.

WALK ONE (Vichy France)

Louis Darquier de Pellepoix to the Kommandantur du Groß -Paris

WALK TWO (PARIS BY NIGHT)

Cabaret le Shéhérazade to the Milice Headquarters

WALK THREE (SOLDIERS ON LEAVE)

Montmartre: UGIF to the Moulin Rouge

METRO WALKS (OTHER SITES TO VISIT)

Sample Stops

WALK ONE STOP 10

WALK TWO STOP 9

Testimonials

“Stew blends the dark history of buildings in Paris that are associated with the infamous deeds of the Gestapo with contrasting insights into the bravery of the French people, who, at great risk to themselves and their families, secretly resisted the German Occupation.”

⏤Squadron Leader Stanley Booker, MBE, RAF (Ret.), Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, Member: KLB Club

“An invaluable guide to a host of little-known locations and facts about wartime occupied Paris. Not just for the historian, this book will allow anyone to view this beautiful city of light in the shadows of enemy occupation.”

⏤Paul McCue

Historian, lecturer, and author of SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France 1944

“Guidebooks are usually described as informative, sometimes entertaining and Stew Ross’ newest work is both. It is also more⏤it evokes a difficult and frightening time in the history of the City of Light. The detailed descriptions of sites such as the Vél’ d’Hiv’ or Gestapo headquarters as well as the home of glamorous traitors such as Coco Chanel reminds us of the choices people made during those years. Even more interesting is how Paris did its best to remain a capital of pleasure as nightclubs and cabarets remained open to the mainly German audience.”

⏤Cynthia Bisson, PhD

Professor of History, Belmont University

French Resistance Expert

“Another outstanding, well-researched, and presented book by Stew Ross. It gives a detailed guided walking tour full of facts about the activities of the Gestapo during their occupation of Paris during World War II. I highly recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in what life was like during the Nazi occupation in France.”

⏤Richard H.F. Neave

Member of Paris-based Libre Résistance SOE “F” section and author of SOE: A Life in the Shadows”

Tag: Gestapo

The S-Bahn Serial Killer