A 1940 photograph of Volkswagen's Nazi origins hanging on the wall of a Volkswagen dealership in Coyoacán, Mexico City, was shared on social media and led to an unexpected ending that left the work of the 200 people hanging by a thread who work in the agency.
In the image you can see the official presentation of the first Volkswagen model, created during the Third Reich, where Adolf Hitler appears surrounded by swastikas and other members of the Nazi government.
On September 5, a user noticed the photograph and uploaded it to Twitter with a disapproving message: “Dear @Volkswagen_MX it causes sadness and deep concern, that your memory is an apology for racism.
The photos were taken today at its Coyoacán branch.
A talk at @MuseoMYT would do them good, ”currently the user posted her private messages, but other people echoed the photograph.
Shame that these photos are posted in the @Volkswagen_MX agency in Coyoacán.
Hanging a swastika is an apology for the worst crime of humanity.
Whoever is anti-Semitic is homophobic is racist.
Photos of @FerEstrellas
Favor of RT for @Volkswagen_MX of an official position pic.twitter.com/GFVbOEsV2X
- Adina Chelminsky (@AdinaChel) September 5, 2020
The message had thousands of shares and reactions that triggered a response from Volkswagen Mexico the next day.
“We have a history that we have learned from.
We value respect, fairness, inclusion and freedom and we speak out against manifestations of hatred and discrimination, ”the company replied and warned that it would take action in this regard.
Volkswagen is a brand with values based on respect and we do not tolerate manifestations of hatred and discrimination.
pic.twitter.com/tnyORnHtWY
- Volkswagen de México (@Volkswagen_MX) September 6, 2020
In a few days, the workers of the Coyoacán agency, the Centro Automotriz Coyoacán company that has the Volkswagen brand concession, released a video, also through Twitter, where they denounced that their jobs were in danger, since Volkswagen Mexico broke the commercial relationship with the establishment.
Administrators, salespeople, cleaning staff, mechanics and customer service employees claim that they only have insured work until the end of September.
“At the beginning of the health crisis, Centro Automotriz Coyoacán maintained its support with the staff, maintaining the jobs and income of each of us who work here until today.
Unfortunately due to a bad context, we are victims of a digital lynching ”, they explain.
Friends !!
I share the video of Volkswagen Coyoacán !!
Help me share it 🙏🏻, so that many people see it!
Thank you!!
# 200sinchamba #APOYOACOYOACAN pic.twitter.com/GC9OY1ee1A
- Kio (@kiiokio) September 11, 2020
“The photo had been hanging for more than 20 years and is part of a sequence that shows the evolution of the 'vochito' over time.
The truth is that no one had repaired or made a comment to us for it, ”explains Kio Shinji, sales executive at Centro Automotriz Coyoacán by phone.
The seller assures that the owner of the company spoke with Volkswagen to remove the photo, however, the decision was blunt and in three days, the automaker ended the business relationship.
“Volkswagen de México has made public its position regarding this issue and the decision it has taken on the commercial relationship with the Distributor.
We are confident that the latter will make the right decisions regarding the source of employment, "the company told
Verne
by email.
In the public position to which it refers, the brand expressed that it does not tolerate manifestations of hatred and discrimination.
"We strongly condemn that he exhibited those images in his facilities, which showed a regime that emphasized hatred and discrimination in a time in history that has fortunately been left behind," Volkswagen Mexico said through a statement on its social networks.
Volkswagen
“We are all in
shock
, how is it possible that because of a photo or a tweet they decide to take away the concession?
The Coyoacán agency is one of the highest billing agencies in Mexico City, even during the pandemic, ”says Shinji.
"I do not think we made an apology for Nazism, that image is not visible to everyone and we have never talked about Nazism at work ... Networks are a double-edged sword," says the worker.
Along with the controversial photo, there are others that show the evolution of Volkswagen models over the years.
Understand the difference between chronology and apology for crime.
The walls of the agency show the historical evolution of the brand.
pic.twitter.com/cuoD1klNqz
- Werytä (Lilith) (@WAntichairos) September 13, 2020
Digital lynching
As Shinji mentions, social media has played a huge role in this whole thing.
"The networks are a very powerful tool both to do politics and to have commercial impact or vindicate just causes and social movements", responds Agneris Sampieri, lawyer of the Network of Digital Rights (R3D).
“People are not aware of the consequences that networks can have.
I do not think that the initial complaint was aimed at getting 200 people fired, however, this is what is happening and it is a case of digital lynching, "he adds.
Kio Shinji explains that the staff does not know what will become of their jobs from next month.
"The only option that Volkswagen Mexico gave is for the agency to change its name and change ownership. We fear that if a new owner arrives, they will fire us."
Agneris Sampieri launches a final reflection on the consequences that a lynching can generate through social networks.
“We have to measure the magnitude of our words and be aware of what we want to achieve when we grab and make a complaint against something or someone.
Those who pay may be people outside our complaint ”.
"Who was going to tell us that we would lose our job because of a photo that had been hanging there for 20 years?" Concludes Kio Shinji.
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