Behind the Bastards

Part Two: That Time Volkswagen Operated a Slave Plantation in Brazil

Cool Zone Media / iHeartPodcasts
October 16, 2025
Host: Brett
Guest: Maggie

Episode Overview

This episode continues the chilling examination of Volkswagen's slave labor operations in Brazil during the military dictatorship. Hosts Brett and Maggie detail how the multinational auto company—better known for Beetles than cattle—became actively complicit in creating and maintaining a slave plantation in the Amazon through the 1970s and 1980s. They focus on the systemic brutality faced by workers, the cover-ups, the rare moments of resistance, and the long, slow quest for justice that extends up to the present day.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Volkswagen and the Brazilian Military Junta (06:01–09:02)

• Volkswagen and Dictatorship: VW eagerly supported the 1964 Brazilian military coup, describing it as a “restoration of a rational political order.” The company, along with other multinationals like Mitsubishi, Nestle, and Goodyear, was drawn in by the junta’s promise of unregulated access to land and labor.
• Anti-Union Sentiments: Board members, such as Friedrich Wilhelm Schultz Wenk, celebrated the arrest of union organizers, seeing it as essential to profit maximization:

  “Huzzah. The secret police have arrested union organizers. Woo hoo.” (Brett, 07:11)

• Exploitation of the Amazon: The goal was to tear apart the Amazon for profit, with little to no concern for worker welfare or environmental impact.

2. The Para State Slave Plantation (09:02–12:11)

• Forced Labor and Brutality:
  • At least 300–1000 workers were trapped via "irregular contracts."
  • Escape was possible mainly through severe illness.
  • Some evidence showed workers were tortured, strung up, or killed for resisting or attempting escape.
  • No real medical care existed; people were often worked to death.

  “If one of them isn’t working right, you string them up as an example to the others…” (Brett, 11:23)

• VW’s Mission? Instead of cars, the focus was ranching and logging—mostly for government favor, not profit.

3. The Role of the Catholic Church and Father Ricardo Rezende (12:27–16:38)

• Liberation Theology:
  • The Catholic Church (specifically, figures like Father Rezende) became the only institution able and willing to investigate forced labor, as unions were broken and direct oversight was impossible.

  “…the only people who can really do something… have some ability to operate under the junta without getting just completely annihilated.” (Brett, 13:03)

• Early Investigation:
  • First claims came from a union organizer in 1977.
  • Rezende began collecting testimonies, enduring surveillance and being labeled a “communist sympathizer.”

4. Worker Testimonies and Escape (16:38–28:38)

• Key Testimonies:
  • First eye-witness accounts detailed routine torture, shootings, and even burning workers alive.
  • 17-year-old kids lured with promises of soccer and pay described starvation, violence, rape, and murder.
  • Workers deceived their captors to escape, risking lives to expose abuses.

  “Among the five workers who fled the farm, three were only seventeen… They were lured to work there… told they would be able to play soccer there.” (Brett, 23:21)

5. Public Exposure—The Breakthrough (28:38–36:26)

• Delegations and Investigation:
  • After witness accounts reached the German press, VW invited a delegation to see the supposed “good conditions.”
  • Sao Paulo lawmaker Expedito Batista, expected to be sympathetic, instead discovered a beaten, bound worker in transit and demanded his release.

  “A worker had his arms tied and was being taken by a labor contractor known as Abilau. I ordered them to immediately release the man…” (Batista story relayed by Brett, 29:53)

• Volkswagen’s Deflection:
  • VW management claimed “no responsibility” for contractors’ treatment of labor—despite direct evidence and benefit.

6. Official Inquiries and Stalemate (36:26–41:09)

• Initial Police Findings:
  • State security chief found:

    “The Gatos treat their contracted workers like slaves.” (Brett, 35:45)

  • Yet, VW not held criminally liable—blamed by “omission,” protected through plausible deniability and bureaucracy.

7. Closure, Aftermath, and Delayed Justice (44:55–53:48)

• VW’s Exit:
  • In 1986, as the ranch lost profitability, VW closed operations—but workers remained enslaved or sold, families separated.
  • Survivors suffered lifelong trauma:

    “My younger brother… receded further into his trauma. Today, he no longer speaks. He only nods and sways.” (Brett, 45:48)

• Documentation of Atrocities:
  • Reports of starvation, torture, rape, and a “cave for corpses.” (47:21–48:12)
• Protracted Legal Battle:
  • Only in late 2019 was a new investigation opened; the 2025 verdict ordered VW to pay 165 million BRL—but the company continues to deny responsibility and is appealing.

  “Volkswagen still denies any wrongdoing. And last I said, are appealing the case.” (Brett, 54:00)

• Corporate Callousness:
  • Former manager Friedrich Brugger called allegations “complete nonsense,” shifting blame to “the Brazilian” and calling workers “bad people.”

    “The brutality that happened, of course, doesn’t surprise me at all. The Brazilian is a bad person…” (Brett quoting Brugger, 53:41)

8. Concluding Reflections and Systemic Issues (56:08–End)

• Ethical Consumption Quandary:
  • Brett dryly questions how one can act as an ethical consumer when so many companies, like VW and candy maker Haribo, have histories of using or abetting slave labor.
  • Maggie on the contemporary relevance:

    "This is so more recent than I think my spine was prepared for." (56:36)

  • No clear solutions emerge for listeners; only the sobering lesson to remain vigilant and critical.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Multinational Complicity:

  “The Nazis didn’t go away. They just moved around a little bit. They shuffled.” — Brett (07:57)

• On the Unique Role of the Church:

  “You can’t whole scale… go after the Catholic Church whole hog. That is a bridge too far… Cause everyone's Catholic basically, right?” — Brett (13:50)

• VW’s “Hands-Off” Defense:

  “How could I possibly expect to know what's happening 10 miles away with the guys that I'm paying to make other guys work for them?” — Brett (33:09)

• Corporate Gaslighting:

  “They just wanted to show me the modern buildings… but I asked for a truck to… meet with Father Rezende…” — Expedito Batista recounting the PR whitewash (29:53)

• Documented Testimony:

  “We worked Monday to Monday, often without eating. They promised to kill us.” — Former worker (47:21)

• On Historical Denial:

  “The responsibility of a company ends somewhere. When there are over a thousand men in one room, things aren't always gentle. That's obvious, especially in the middle of a jungle.” — Friedrich Brugger (52:23)

• Brett’s Closing Frustration:

  “I don’t know how to fix this.” (57:34)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Volkswagen’s Embrace of Dictatorship: 06:01–09:02
• Conditions on the Plantation: 09:02–12:11
• Church Investigation / Father Rezende: 12:27–16:38
• Survivor Testimonies: 16:38–28:38
• Delegation Uncovers Slavery: 28:38–36:26
• State and Legal Inaction: 36:26–41:09
• Ordeal of the Enslaved and Closure: 44:55–53:48
• Legal Reckoning and Corporate Denial: 53:48–56:08
• Closing Reflections: 56:08–End

Tone & Style

Brett and Maggie approach the subject with caustic wit, frustration, and a sense of grim inevitability—balancing dark humor (“Volkswagen: We got a cave for corpses.” – 47:53) with moral outrage and empathy for the victims ("Wow. All worth it for beef, killing the rainforest." – Maggie, 46:26). As with much of Behind the Bastards, the episode encourages listeners to look past sanitized corporate histories and confront the disturbing realities below.

For Listeners:

This episode is a harrowing, perspicacious overview of Volkswagen’s direct and culpable role in modern slavery. It offers a rare look at resistance (however limited) from within the Catholic Church, explains why so much international business in dictatorships comes with moral rot, and leaves the listener with urgent questions about accountability, consumption, and historical memory.