DARK PAST

Book: Kochs’ Dad Built Nazi Oil Refinery

“Dark Money” alleges project was approved by Hitler.

A new book alleges that the father of the billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch, assisted in building a major oil refinery for the Nazis that was personally approved by Adolf Hitler. Dark Money, by New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer, examines the history of several wealthy families who played major roles as donors and activists in the American conservative movement. Fred C. Koch reportedly had a partnership with American Nazi sympathizer William Rhodes Davis, who allegedly hired Koch to help construct the third-largest oil refinery in the Third Reich. Ken Spain, a spokesman for Koch Industries, said the company declined to participate in writing the book and had not yet read it.