--- title: Koch Brothers: 'Dark Money' Says Koch Father Helped Nazis description: The father of billionaires Charles and David Koch helped build a Nazi oil refinery, according to a new book. canonical: https://time.com/4177039/koch-brothers-nazi/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-12T16:09:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:00:04.421Z article:section: Politics og:title: Koch Brothers' Father Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says og:description: Adolph Hitler personally approved of the project, according to the book og:url: https://time.com/4177039/koch-brothers-nazi/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dab078c80d818f2/69886f715f570f55c1b1e282/time-person-of-the-year-poll-koch-brothers.jpg?branch=production&width=268&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 268 og:image:height: 151 og:image:alt: TIME Person of the Year Poll The Koch Brothers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Koch Brothers' Father Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says twitter:description: Adolph Hitler personally approved of the project, according to the book twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dab078c80d818f2/69886f715f570f55c1b1e282/time-person-of-the-year-poll-koch-brothers.jpg?branch=production&width=268&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Koch Brothers' Father Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=78f90bce-44b2-4118-9cd9-a8714cefcad2&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 12, 2016 4:09 PM UTC  AP; Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 12, 2016 4:09 PM UTC The father of billionaires Charles and David Koch helped build a Nazi oil refinery, according to a new book about some of America’s wealthiest families. The book, _Dark Money_ by Jane Mayer, describes businessman Fred C. Koch’s success in Europe prior to World War II, according to a New York _Times_ [report](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html). One of Koch’s projects was a major oil refinery for Nazi Germany, which Adolph Hitler personally approved, according to the book. Koch Industries spokesperson Ken Spain said that company officials had not read the book and did not assist Mayer in her research. “If the content of the book is reflective of Ms. Mayer’s previous reporting of the Koch family, Koch Industries or Charles’s and David’s political involvement, then we expect to have deep disagreements and strong objections to her interpretation of the facts and their sourcing,” Spain told the _Times_. The book comes just months after the release of a [book by Charles Koch](http://time.com/4072398/charles-koch-good-profit/) that presents a positive view of how the Koch business grew to become the second-largest privately held corporation in the U.S. The Koch brothers are known for funding [conservative political candidates](http://time.com/4108941/charles-kock-gop-primary/) and causes. _Dark Money_ reviews the influence of a small cadre of wealthy family, including the Kochs, on politics in recent decades. \[[_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4177039/koch-brothers-nazi/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4177039/koch-brothers-nazi/"},"headline":"Koch Brothers' Father Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says","datePublished":"2016-01-12T16:09:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:00:04.421Z","description":"Adolph Hitler personally approved of the project, according to the book","url":"https://time.com/4177039/koch-brothers-nazi/","keywords":["Books","Campaign Finance","Koch Brothers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dab078c80d818f2/69886f715f570f55c1b1e282/time-person-of-the-year-poll-koch-brothers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dab078c80d818f2/69886f715f570f55c1b1e282/time-person-of-the-year-poll-koch-brothers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME Person of the Year Poll The Koch Brothers","caption":"TIME Person of the Year Poll The Koch Brothers","creditText":"AP; Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4177039/koch-brothers-nazi/","name":"Koch Brothers' Father Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says"}}]}] ```