Ford, GM Deny Alleged Past Ties to Nazis

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 auto makers, denied cooperating with Nazi Germany during World War II and disputed allegations made in a Washington Post report. Historians and lawyers conducting research in lawsuits filed by former prisoners of war are trying to prove the auto makers helped European subsidiaries convert car factories to military production. Some managers “went along with” the conversions while resisting U.S. requests to prepare factories at home, the paper reported, citing documents in German and U.S. archives. Ford and GM said separately that Nazis took over their European plants during the war and that allegations the auto makers profited from prison labor are untrue.