Hugo Boss apology for Nazi past as book is published

The German fashion firm Hugo Boss has apologised for its maltreatment of forced workers during World War II when it supplied the Nazis with uniforms.

It issued the apology to coincide with the publication of a new history of the company during the Hitler years, which it commissioned itself.

Its factory used 140 Polish and 40 French forced workers.

The book concludes that company founder Hugo Boss, whose past is already well documented, was a loyal Nazi.

"It is clear that Hugo F Boss did not only join the party because it led to contracts for uniform production, but also because he was a follower of National Socialism," wrote the author, Roman Koester, an economic historian at the Bundeswehr (English: Federal Defence Force) University in Munich.

Both Mr Koester and the company insist that it had no influence over the contents of the book, although it provided the funding....