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The survival of Volkswagen after World War II comes down to one man, Ivan Hirst. In 1945, the Wolfsburg factory was damaged, shut, and close to being scrapped. Hirst was not sent to revive a car company. He was there to manage what remained. But instead of shutting it down, he saw that the plant could still function. That decision to repair and restart production kept Volkswagen alive at a time when it could have disappeared completely.