Adidas and Puma

 Here we are going to look into the mysterious and controversial history of Adidas and Puma and learn about their Nazi connections.

TWO BROTHERS ONE GOAL

Before the story of Adidas we travel back in time between 2 brothers that shared a particular passion for shoe making. Starting out in a more modest operation than we see today, brothers Adolf Dassler and Rudolf Dassler decided to change the course of their life when they started a factory in 1924.

The company known as the Dassler brother shoe factory was taken from inspiration after Adolf found a hobby of making shoes in his mother’s laundry after world war 1. The Dassler brothers were natives of Herzogfnaurach in Germany, a city with just over 20000 Residents and a long history of shoe making. The brothers had to put up a stationary bike in order to generate enough power to run machines they needed to construct their sport shoes in the early years of their business as the electrical supply was inconsistent. 

From their humble beginnings they received their 1st significant success in 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Dassler brother spiked shoe then known as “geda” gained popularity when American sprinter Jesse Owens decided to run in it and famously won four gold medals. The athletic who took part in the famous games while wearing geda shoes won seven gold medals, five silver medals and five bronze medals from this ADI and Rudy were selling 200000 pairs of shoes annually in years company was in success in fact for a while the brothers were the only ones in Germany who could produce such sports shoes but this success would eventually become a dark secret that the brand poured millions into burying. Not only that this success would contribute to a dreadful period in German history probably the family conflict between the two brothers and tore apart their business, their family and even the small Bavarian town they’d grown up with because of the success after the Nazis took control of Germany the firm would become significant supplier  to Hitler youth groups even during the 1936 Berlin summer Olympics the German teams wore them as their official footwear.

THE NAZI ORIGIN

The brothers would continue to serve in administration which lead them to enthusiastically join the Nazi party so both of them became Nazi party members.

The production of sports shoes made famous by the Dassler brothers was eventually stopped during the World War 2 rather forcefully so that their facility could be used to create the Panzer Shrek or the tank terror or rocket launcher designed to destroy tanks there were reportedly at least nine forced labours employed by the business. Rudolf attempted to persuade the Nazi party’s top brass to give him the permission to manufacture patented army boots but his efforts were in vain. Until the allies came in and took over the factory would keep producing weapons and equipment for the vermacht after the war the American denazification campaign and the persecution of high ranking Nazi party members would limit the brother’s cooperation. The American interviewed Rudolf because he was thought to be a elite member of the Nazi party, he was detained in Hummelberg interment camp until his release on July 31 1946, When their was determined that there was no basis for their suspicions. Adolf wouldn’t escape punishment either, additionally he was detained by those in charge of the denazification effort and put on trail in exchange of their cooperation. Adolf was eventually determined to be a ballastator a term used to determine a group of people who benefited from the Nazi government. It brought a 10 year penalty and the possibility that Adolf would lose his position as CEO of the Dassler company. Only the half Jewish mayor of Herzogen Iraq a dependable ally could save him, he supported  Adolf’s claim to be unconnected to the political wing of the Nazi party by testifying that Adolf had informed him of a prospective gestapo arrest protected him on his own land.  As a result Adolf would continue to lose control of his Dassler company which his brother Rudolf would try to take advantage of.

THE RIFT

The decade long collaboration of Adi and Rudy broke down after the world war 2. There are a lots of rumours for why the brothers converted to rivals from partners, according to one theory the wives of Adi and Rudy did not get along.

Rudy had abandoned his duties on the front lines of the war and when returning home the allies detained and imprisoned him because he was an SS member but ultimately the most supported reason was that Rudolf was an adamant supporter of national socialism this developed into an ideological rift increasing the already growing gap between the two brothers so we’re here to set the record straight while Adolf was busy appealing to have his status reduced from minderbelasteter or less offender Rudolf would claim that Adolf had organised the production of weapons independently and for his own gain rather than under duress, Rudolf also claimed that he had resisted the change of production but he personally could not stop it because he had been drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1943, The company’s financial records which indicated a loss of a hundred thousand German marks throughout the time of weapon production which showed this to be untrue.

Adolf’s wife Kathe Dassler would dispute the most of Rudolf’s assertions and she was successful in getting her husband downgraded, allowing him to continue running the shoe factory. On February 3 1947 Adolf could formally resume his administration of the firm.

 The brothers would end up becoming mortal foes due to Rudolf’s claims made during the trials and his ongoing battle to remove Adolf from the company’s board. With each family blaming the other for many of the issues encountered during the war, relations between the two families grew increasingly antagonistic as a result Adidas and Puma were born.

ADIDAS AND PUMA

The original factory was left under control of Adolf Dassler and Rudolf started his own footwear brand.

Eventually the town Herzogfnaurach where the brothers lived was split into 2 parts one who sided with Adolf’s brand Adidas and the other which sided with Rudolf’s brand Ruda later called Puma.