IBM and the Holocaust
Page 75
Rapport de la commission presidee par Rene Remond au Premier minister, Le “Fichier Juif,” Plon, 1996.
Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. Beechhurst Press Inc., 1953; New York: Perpetua, 1961.
Remond, Rene. Des Apparences a la Realite: Le “Fichier Juif.” Paris, 1996.
Rodgers, William. Think: A Biography of the Watsons and IBM. New York: Stein and Day, 1969.
Shelley, Lore, ed. and translator. Secretaries of Death. New York: Shengold Publishers, Inc.,
Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.
Sijes, B.A., De Februari-staking, 25-26 Februari 1941, H.J.W. Becht, Amsterdam 1954.
Sloan, Jacob, ed. and translator. The Journal of Emmanuel Ringelblum. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1958.
Sobel, Robert. IBM: Colossus in Transition. New York: Truman Talley Books, 1981.
Somers, Erik and Mark Pier. Archievengids van de Tweede Wereldoorlog: Nederland en Nederlands-Indie. Zutphen: Walburg Druk.
Stearns, Peter N. and John H. Hinshaw, eds. The ABC-CLIO World History Companion to the Indus trial Revolution, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1996.
Stegeman, H.B.J. and J.P. Vorsteveld, Het Joodse Werkdorp in de Wieringermeer 1934-1941, Zutphen, 1983.
Trunk, Isaiah. Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi Occupation. New York: Macmillan, 1972; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
Tuchel, Johannes. Die Inspektion der Konzentrations-Lager: Das System des Terrors 1938-1945. Berlin: Edition Hentrich, 1994.
Tusa, Ann and John Tusa. The Nuremberg Trial. New York: Atheneum, 1984.
Watson, Thomas J. Men—Minutes—Money: A Collection of Excerpts from Talks and Messages Delivered and Written at Various Times. New York: International Business Machines, 1934.
Watson, Jr., Thomas J. and Peter Petre. Father, Son & Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond. New York: Bantam Books, 1990.
Wistrich, Robert. Who’s Who in Nazi Germany. New York: MacMillan, 1982.
PERIODICALS
“Aus der Geschichte der Deutschen Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 55 (Nov.1935): 729-738.
Biehler, “Lochkartenmaschinen im Dienste der Reichsstatistik,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 28 (1938): 90-100.
Blau, Bruno, “The Jewish Population of Germany 1939-1945,” Jewish Social Studies, 161-172.
Burgdorfer, Friedrich, “Die Volks- Berufs- und Betriebszahlung 1933,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 23 (1933/34): 143-171.
Burgdorfer, Friedrich, “Die Rumanische Volkszahlung 1940-41: Ein Reisebericht,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 30 (1941): 302-322.
“Censuses” in Analytical Franco-Jewish Gazeteer 1939-45: 85-88.
Couve, Richard, “Der Mensch im Lochkartenverfahren,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 36 (Apr.1934): 443-455.
“Das deutsche Volk wird gezahlt,” Illustrierter Beobachter, 9 (1), 6 Jan. 1934: 5-6, 20.
“Die erste Fabrikeinweihung im Jahre 1934,” Der Deutsche, 9 Jan. 1934.
“Der Berliner Kongress,” Internationale Wirtschaft, Jul.-Aug.1937: 6-8.
“From the European Cauldron,” American Hebrew, 7 Jun. 1940: 7.
Hummer, Ludwig, “Die Aufbereitung der Volks- und Berfuszahlung 1933 im Hollerith-Lochkartenverfahren,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 28 (Aug.1933): 343-355.
“International Business Machines,” Fortune (Jan.1940): 36-37.
“Inventur eines Volkes,” Berliner Tageblatt, 9 Jan. 1934.
Keller, Karl, “Zur Frage der Rassenstatistik,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 24 (1934/35): 129-142.
Kistermann, Friedrich W., “Locating the Victims: The Nonrole of Punched Card Technology and Census Work,” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 19 (2) (Apr.-Jun. 1997): 31-45.
Kruger, Hermann, “Das Hollerith-Lochkartenverfahren im Fursorgewesen,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 47 (Mar.1935): 614-632.
Lawin, Rudolf, “Die Auszahlung einer Wohnungsbestandsaufnahme im Hollerith-Verfahren,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 58 (Feb.1936): 773-777.
Luebke, David Martin and Sybil Milton, “Locating the Victim: An Overview of Census-Taking, Tabulation Technology, and Persecution in Nazi Germany,” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 16:3, (1994): 25-39.
Methorst, H.W., “The New System of Population Accounting in the Netherlands,” Journal of the American Statistical Association (1936): 713-714, 719-722.
Methorst, H.W. and J.L. Lentz, “Die Volksregistrierung und das neue in den Niederlanden eingefuhrte einheitliche System,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 26 (1936): 59-84.
Muller, Johannes, “Die Stellung der Statistik in neuen Reich,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 24 (1934): 241-250.
Schaefer, Bradley E., “Conjunctions that Changed the World,” Sky & Telescope (May 2000).
Schultze, Edgar, “Die verfeinerte Auswertung statistischer Zusammenhange mit Hilfe des Hollerith-Lochkartenverfahrens,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 40 (Aug.1934): 507-517.
Seltzer, William, “Population Statistics, the Holocaust, and the Nuremberg Trials,” Population and Development Review, 24 (3): 511-552.
“Watson neuer Prasident der Internationalen Handelskammer,” in Volkischer Beo bach ter, 28 June, 1937.
Westphalen, “Die Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft im Dienste der Sparkassen-Statistik,” Hollerith Nachrichten, 54 (Oct.1935): 721-726.
Zahn, Friedrich, “Vom Wirtschaftswert des Menschen als Gegenstand der Statistik,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 24 (1934/35): 461-464.
Zahn, Friedrich, “Fortbildung der deutschen Bevolkerungsstatistik durch erbbiologische Bestandsaufnahmen,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 27 (1937/38): 180-195.
Zahn, Friedrich, “Die Statistik im nationalsozialistischen Grossdeutschland,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 29 (1939): 369-392.
TYPESCRIPTS AND UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
Engelbourg, Saul. International Business Machines: A Business History, typescript, 1954.
Kistermann, Friedrich, The Way to the First Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator: The 1935 DEHOMAG D 11 Tabulator Title, typescript, 1995.
Kistermann, Friedrich, Locating the Victims: The Nonrole of Punched Card Technology, typescript, 1997.
J.L. Lentz, Memoires I, Registratie van Joden (oorsprong en ontwikkeling), unpublished journal, circa October 1944.
J.L. Lentz, Ambtelijke Herinneringen, unpublished journal, circa October 1944.
Presser, Jacob. Ondergang: De vervolging en verdelging van het Nederlandse Jodentom, typescript.
Seltzer, William and Margo Anderson, After Pearl Harbor: The Proper Role of Population Data Systems in Time of War, an unpublished paper.
Also by Edwin Black
www.edwinblack.com
Nazi Nexus
America’s Corporate Connections To Hitler’s Holocaust
www.nazinexus.com
2009
The Plan
How to Rescue Society When the Oil Stops—or the Day Before
www.planforoilcrisis.com
2008
Internal Combustion
How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives
www.internalcombustionbook.com
2006
Banking on Baghdad
Inside Iraq’s 7,000 Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict
www.bankingonbaghdad.com
2004
War Against the Weak
Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race
www.waragainsttheweak.com
2003
IBM and the Holocaust
The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation
www.ibmandtheholocaust.com
2001
The Transfer Agreement
The Dramatic Story of the Pact Between the Third Reich and Jewish Palestine
www.transferagree
ment.com
1984 and 2001
Format C:
A Novel
www.formatnovel.com
1999
What Reviewers Have Said About
IBM AND THE HOLOCAUST
“An explosive new book…. Backed by exhaustive research, Black’s case is simple and stunning.”
—Michael Hirsh, Newsweek
“Black’s book is most interesting when he is dealing with Watson’s stubborn and unsuccessful determination to continue in control of IBM’s German operation without appearing to be doing so. He was able to cut off direct relations between IBM in the U.S. and the Germans while continuing to deal with them indirectly. He was a master of subterfuge and made a fine art of being in a position to deny collaboration with the Nazis while operating through subsidiaries who were responsive to his every wish…. And he never forbade them to supply IBM machines that were used in sending people to camps, which they did.”
—Gordon A. Craig, New York Review of Books
“Black establishes beyond dispute that IBM Hollerith machines significantly ad vanced Nazi efforts to exterminate Jewry…. IBM and the Holocaust is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust.”
—Christopher Simpson, Washington Post Book World
“Black’s study… contains a wealth of unknown or little-known details. The author convincingly shows the relentless efforts made by IBM to maximize profit by selling its machines and its punch cards to a country whose criminal record would soon be widely recognized.”
—Saul Friedlander, Los Angeles Times
“IBM and the Holocaust is a disturbing book—all the more so because its author doesn’t prescribe what should be done about sins committed more than half a century ago. It is left to readers to decide.”
—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune
“Black’s book is shocking. Its contents go against the grain of all that is dear to naive images of corporate America…. This book will be a case study in corporate ethics for years to come.”
—Robert Urekew, Midstream
“IBM and the Holocaust is an ambitious book… an important contribution to Holocaust studies.”
—John Friedman, The Nation
“The book adds much to our knowledge of the Holocaust and World War II. Black convincingly demonstrates the extent to which it [IBM technology], was central to the operation of the Third Reich.”
—Terry W. Hartle, Christian Science Monitor
“Black makes a case that shames the IBM of the mid-20th century…. There will be no question… in the minds of readers that IBM officials had the ability to understand the task their machines were performing. The book succeeds as a piece of excruciatingly documented journalism.”
—Karen Sandstrom, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Black’s book is so enlightening [because] it paints a richly textured picture of how a man [Watson], and an entire company, can ignore all sense of morality while not once transgressing the lines of business ethics. If nothing else, this book should be required reading for every first-year MBA student.”
—Sam Jaffe, Businessweek.com
“Black’s argument that IBM made millions from its association with the Nazis seems almost impossible to refute.”
—John Mark Eberhart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Black’s book… is an ugly story, hidden for years, told by a master craftsman in a compelling way. More than just another Holocaust tale… it’s a chilling lesson.”
—Richard Pachter, Miami Herald
“More than 15 million people have visited the Holocaust Museum and seen the IBM machine there. Surely some have raised the question: How could this prestigious corporation possibly be linked to such a heinous stain on human history? With empirical evidence, Edwin Black has supplied the answer. IBM and the Holocaust makes an empirical statement. Edwin Black has made his case.”
—Louisville Courier-Journal
“This damning chronicle of IBM’s collusion with the Nazis exposes, in horrific detail, the corporation’s opportunistic ride on Hitler’s tail.”
—Charles Winecoff, Entertainment Weekly
“This is the stuff of corporate nightmare. IBM, one of the world’s richest companies, is about to be confronted with evidence of a truly shameful history. Edwin Black reveals Big Blue’s vital role in the Holocaust.”
—Sunday Times, Great Britain
“Black… shows, in compelling detail, that IBM, ‘the solutions company’, was also the company of the Final Solution…. It is a distinctive contribution to the history of the time. It wholly justifies Black’s years of toil… a terrible warning from this brilliantly excavated past.”
—Peter Preston, The Guardian, Great Britain
“The computer group IBM is haunted by its past. Edwin Black’s book now reveals the company’s involvement in the Holocaust…. Previously the Nazi past of ‘Big Blue’… was hardly ever a topic…. But now IBM is in the dock. Black’s meticulous research documents just how precisely IBM managers were kept informed about the whereabouts of their machines.”
—Christian Habbe, Der Spiegel, Germany
“Black’s … book is the first to give the general public a detailed account of how an American corporation profited from intimate ties with the Nazis. It strips the veneer from the cherished myth of the purity and patriotism of American business.”
—Marilyn Henry, Jerusalem Post
“IBM and the Holocaust raises startling questions about the technology giant’s involvement with Nazi government officials—and throws the company’s wartime ethics into serious doubt.”
—Jessica Reaves, Time.com
“Black … documents IBM’s sins with chilling discipline…. IBM and the Holocaust lays out in numbing detail the terrible deeds of bureaucrats and business leaders…. In the end, though, this book has a subtler story to tell, one frighteningly relevant to our lives today. IBM and the Holocaust isn’t about evil men at a particularly bloody point in recent history so much as it’s about the dawn of the modern information age.”
—Douglas Perry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Edwin Black has put together an impressive array of facts which result in a shocking conclusion never realized before: IBM collaborated with the Third Reich. This book should be read by everyone interested in the ‘under history’ of the Second World War.”
—Simon Wiesenthal, director, Jewish Documentation Center, Vienna
“Black’s great contribution is that he has tenaciously collected a lot of information and combined it in an original way. Few others have thought to place this information in the same context, to see what inferences can be drawn. Black’s history makes two chilling observations. The first is that the Holocaust was possible because the Nazis had access not only to guns and gas but also to cutting-edge census technology. The second is that the Nazis had access to this technology because IBM, in its paranoid zeal, worked very hard to maintain its market dominance of the global market in data processing.”
—Anthony Sebok, CNN.com
“A shocking account of IBM’s complicity with the Nazis is a reminder that people bear moral responsibility for the actions of the corporation—a point that critics have failed to grasp.”
—Jack Beatty, The Atlantic Online
“IBM and the Holocaust is a story that must be read if one is to understand how Hitler and the Nazis were able to implement their Final Solution to exterminate European Jewry…. Once again, Edwin Black has hit the mark.”
—Abraham H. Foxman, national director, Anti-Defamation League
“A tremendous, timely work. Neglected for more than 50 years, the sordid records dis closing IBM’s collaboration with the Nazi regime have now been exhumed by Edwin Black.”
—Robert Wolfe, former chief National Archives expert for captured German records and Nuremberg documentation
“Leaves no room for deniability.”
—Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman, Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
“Edwin Black’s groundbreaking book, IBM and the Holocaust, made a great impression on me. It documents, for the first time, that an American company, IBM, bears a good deal of the moral responsibility for the preparation of the persecution of the Nazi victims. IBM and the Holocaust confirms the belief that the Holocaust was not only a cruel, unprecedented crime, but also an enormous bureaucratic undertaking.
—Franclszek Piper, historian, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Copyright
Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2009 by Edwin Black
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Dialog Press, Washington, DC
Originally published in hardcover by Crown Publishers in 2001
Printed in the United States of America
DESIGN BY BARBARA STURMAN
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Black, Edwin.
IBM and the Holocaust: the strategic alliance between Nazi Germany and America’s most powerful corporation / Edwin Black.—1st ed.