Cyrus Osborn (August 27, 1897 – November 15, 1968) was a manager at General Motors in the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known for inventing the railroad

dome car A dome car is a type of railway Passenger car (rail), passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a Coach (rail), coach, lounge c ...

in 1947. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Osborn served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and graduated from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

with an M.E. degree in 1921. Osborn then started as an apprentice with Dayton Engineering Laboratories (a division of

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

). He rose through the ranks to manage G.M.'s overseas division, and then became the second in command at G.M.'s

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

division in Germany in 1936. His leadership of Opel from 1937 to 1940 was marked by increasing controversy as tensions between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

increased prior to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Henry Ashby Turner Henry Ashby Turner, Jr. (April 4, 1932 – December 17, 2008) was an American historian of Germany who was a professor at Yale University for over forty years. He is best known for his book ''German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler'' (1985) ...

, ''General Motors and the Nazis'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005). This is based on extensive correspondence with and about Hoffman in the records of Vauxhall Motors, VX 006466-850 Osborn was elected a vice president of the corporation in 1943. He retired from G.M. in 1962 after 45 years of service.

Experience in Nazi Germany

Although Osborn was senior executive at the plant, German law under

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

power required firms to appoint a plant leader (''Betriebsfuhrer''). To mask US control of the plant, Rudolf A. Fleischer was awarded this position. Fleischer had previously been a treasurer of the plant and had fought for Germany in

. His

-imposed post was not a part of Opel’s managerial structure. Fleischer consistently attempted to undermine Osborn’s leadership. The breaking point between the two was reached on April 20, 1938. Fleischer and Osborn had planned to present a new

model to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

on his birthday. Fleischer left Osborn behind and presented the car to

by himself. In doing so Fleischer had given the US leadership of GM grounds for termination. To Osborn’s satisfaction, on May 25, 1938 Fleischer resigned from his position. Cyrus Osborn is credited with saving a Jewish man who was in a concentration camp. Willy Hoffman was employed in Opel’s Rüsselsheim factory, until a questionnaire in which he stated he was Jewish, resulted in his termination. Upon learning of his plight, Osborn urged him to apply at GM’s British subsidiary

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors Limited , ;Company No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. is a British Automoti ...

. Osborn explained the situation to a colleague at Vauxhall and promised Hoffman would be a good fit. After delays by British immigration restrictions and Hoffman’s one-month-long incarceration in a

concentration camp, he, together with his wife and daughter, reached England in March 1939 to work at Vauxhall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborm, Cyrus 1897 births 1968 deaths General Motors people University of Cincinnati alumni American military personnel of World War I