While hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic had crippled the German economy and plunged millions of German workers into unemployment, Hitler and his party received lavish donations from wealthy benefactors at home and abroad.[18] Iconic American car maker and antisemite Henry Ford was reported to be one of the foreign supporters.[18] Edwin and Helene Bechstein, part of a wealthy aristocratic family who sold pianos, supported Hitler financially.[18] Ruhr steel barons Fritz Thyssen and Gustav Krupp donated almost five million Reichsmarks to the Nazi Party over the course of the war.[18]

Adolf Hitler’s wealth and income