Diesel Injector Fuel Injector 0445110526 0445110527 Bosch for Yunnei 4102

Gasoline injection for aircraft engines and television technology

When the National Socialists assumed power, this also presented Bosch with major challenges. The regime ordered research and development of gasoline-injection technology for aircraft engines and initiated the construction of new plants. Television technology in particular became the focus of military interest. The company’s foreign sales reached a low of nine percent in 1939.

Armaments and forced labor

With the start of the second world war, Bosch switched its operations to military production again. The military was so heavily motorized by that point that the company’s automotive activities were allowed to continue. As was the case throughout German industry, the associates called up for military action were replaced by forced laborers from the occupied territories, some of whom were forced to live and work in inhumane conditions.

Resistance and protecting the Jews

On the other hand, the Bosch company management actively supported resistance to the National Socialist regime. At its core was Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, who had been appointed as an advisor to the company. Persecuted Jews were also employed to save them from being deported to concentration camps, or were supported financially to assist their emigration.

The end

During the war, the Allies repeatedly bombed Bosch production facilities. Robert Bosch would not live to witness how parts of his factories were razed to the ground, as he died in 1942. He had left clear instructions to his successors on how to run the factory named after him.