Ibm and the nazis book

But by then, watsons open involvement in dehomag had been cut off by the nazis, who were increasingly suspicious of any american presence in the firm, and he was visiting berlin solely as the head of an international chamber of commerce convention. Stimulated by his parents awful experiences at the hands of the nazis during world war ii, edwin black has sifted through an enormous pile of documents to investigate the role of ibm in the progress of the war and the attempted genocide of the jews. The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation, raises startling questions about the technology giants involvement with nazi government officials and throws the companys wartime ethics into. Ibm and the holocaust guide books acm digital library. Ibm technology aided holocaust, author alleges the. Ibm and the holocaust is the stunning story of ibms strategic alliance with nazi germanybeginning in 1933 in the first weeks that hitler came to power and continuing well into world war ii. The book, which documents ibms direct links to hilter and his socalled final solution by providing the third reich with census machines and punch card technology, caused ibm to issue a formal statement claiming that the nazis controlled the operations of ibm germany during the war. Black wrote that ibm headquarters in new york knew all about its german subsidiary designing and supplying indispensable technological equipment that allowed the nazis to achieve what had never. The book interweaves two stories in alternating chapters. As the nazis wrested dehomag from ibms control, it became more and more a pawn of the reich. This book is incredibly important as the first comprehensive work on the subject of ibm and its unfortunate involvement in the holocaust. Ibm dealt directly with holocaust organisers world news the. Holocaust museum, inspiring his fiveyear, topsecret book project.

Any allusion to any card file or statistical compilation whatsoever seems to count for black as solid evidence that the nazis had deployed ibmhollerith machines. Ibm subsidiaries trained the nazi officers and their surrogates throughout europe, set up branch offices. The company leveraged its nazi party connections to continuously enhance its business relationship with hitlers reich, in germany and throughout nazidominated europe. Ibm recently sent a memo to its employees alerting them about blacks book and its accusations that the company provided dataprocessing technology to the nazis. Ibm and the holocaust is the awardwinning, new york times bestselling shockera million copies in printdetailing ibms conscious coplanning and coorganizing of the holocaust for the nazis, all micromanaged by its president thomas j watson from new york and paris. Buy a cheap copy of ibm and the holocaust book by edwin black. The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation is a book by investigative journalist edwin black which details the business dealings of the americanbased multinational corporation international business machines ibm and its german and other european subsidiaries with the government of adolf hitler during the 1930s and the years of world war ii. Ibms twelveyear alliance with the third reich was first revealed in my book ibm and the holocaust, published simultaneously in 40 countries in february 2001. Edwin black, whose book ibm and the holocaust was published in. Newly uncovered naziera documents shed light on the alleged role ibm played in helping hitler to carry out the holocaust in poland, according to the author of a. Edwin blacks book reveals the companys involvement in the holocaust previously the nazi past of big blue was hardly ever a.

In the introduction to the novel, black warns us that, skipping around in this book will only lead to flawed and erroneous conclusions. Newly discovered documents from hitlers germany prove that ibm directly supplied the nazis with technology which was used to help transport millions of people to their deaths in the concentration. Edwin black is the author of ibm and the holocaust, the strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation, newly released in the expanded edition. Ibm and the holocaust is the stunning story of ibms strategic alliance with nazi germanybeginning in 1933 in the first weeks that hitler. In a controversial new book, author edwin black says information technology supplied by big blue provided the nazis with a critical tool in dispatching millions to. Ibms top attorney, harrison chauncey, had visited the state department to discuss ibms involvement with the nazis. His ibm and the holocaust drops the bombshell of a revelation that the nazis, in pursuing the destruction of european jewry, were assisted in decisive ways by a leading american corporation.

Ibm recently sent a memo to its employees alerting them about blacks book and its. As the third reich embarked upon its plan of conquest and genocide, ibm and its subsidiaries helped create enabling technologies, stepbystep, from the identification and. The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation is a book by investigative journalist edwin. If this book points to new and verifiable information that advances understanding of this tragic era, ibm will examine it and ask that appropriate scholars and historians do the same. Why do you think he adopts this stance so particularly. In 1941, one of ibms most profitable customers was the german government. Indeed, during the mid20th century, the software companys punchedcard technology helped the nazis carry out the genocide of millions.

In an ibm statement on naziera book and lawsuit, ibm responded in february 2001 that. Black reminds us that much of the money paid out by the nazis to ibm was plundered from jewish household and bank. This book will be profoundly uncomfortable to read. Lawsuit, book say ibm helped nazis jewish telegraphic agency. The trains running to auschwitz were tracked by a specially guarded ibm customer site facility at 22 pawia in krakow. It has been known for decades that the nazis used hollerith equipment and that ibms german subsidiary during the 1930s deutsche hollerith maschinen gmbh dehomag supplied hollerith equipment. The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most. Ibm dealt directly with holocaust organisers world. Ibm had almost singlehandedly brought modern warfare into the information age and virtually put the blitz in the krieg. Ibm was a lucrative trading partner with the nazis, black told jta. Germany leased ibms punch card tabulation machines ancestors of the computer, and used them in its war against france. Thats the question raised by edwin blacks ibm and the holocaust, the most. Hitlers willing business partners a shocking account of ibms complicity with the nazis is a reminder that people bear moral responsibility for the.

The strategic alliance between nazi germany and americas most powerful corporation. Nazi germany beginning in 1933 in the first weeks that. Ibms pivotal role in helping the nazis arutz sheva. Was ibm, the solutions company, partly responsible for the final solution. Ibm ny always understoodfrom the outset in 1933that it was courting and doing business with the upper echelon of the nazi party. Ibm, microsoft, eugenics and the nazi control agenda. In his introduction to ibm and the holocaust, edwin black makes much of the fact that every sentence in the book can be backed up by hardcopy documentationat a moments notice, and that he quotes very exactly the words from telegrams, letters, and telephone transcripts. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. The decisive antisemitic book i was reading and the book that influenced my comrades was that book by henry ford, the international jew. Beyond questions of morality, the holocaust presented a number of logistical hurdles to the nazis, and ibm offered them a perfectly legal solution. Ibm has told its employees that a forthcoming book will say its former german unit licensed equipment used by the nazis during world war ii. It was based on some 20,000 documents drawn from archives in seven countries. Ibms twelveyear alliance with the third reich was first revealed in my book ibm and the holocaust, published simultaneously in 40 countries.

The crucial technology was a precursor to the computer, the ibm hollerith punch card machine, which black glimpsed on exhibit at the u. Ibm tells employees book will call it a nazi supplier wsj. Ibm and the holocaust, written by edwin black, author of nazi nexus, the farhud, and many other books about the holocaust, the nazis, hitler and the third. The claims that ancestors of the company we know today as ibm helped nazis identify and round up jews by designing computer programs to assist. Ibm press room a recently published book, as well as a recently filed lawsuit against the company, speculate on the uses of hollerith. While americans rightly condemn the nazis as monstrous people. Ibm has a deep eugenics background cold springs harbor, jamaica study, the holocaust, and it was instrumental in setting. When the fabric of reality comes apart, which can be found here. It documents, for the first time, that an american company, ibm, bears a. Nazis invaded poland, black wrote in the jerusalem post, ibm new york. The newest blazetv real history documentary friday builds off edwin blacks book ibm and the holocaust, that chronicles what he believes to be the evidence that shows ibm was complicit in the holocaust.

In a controversial new book, author edwin black says information technology from big blue provided the nazis with a. The memo read that chauncey expressed anxiety that his company may some day be blamed for cooperating with the germans. Edwin blacks groundbreaking book, ibm and the holocaust, made a great impres sion on me. It tells the story of ibms conscious involvementdirectly and through its subsidiariesin the holocaust, as well as its involvement in the nazi war machine that murdered millions of others throughout europe.

As the third reich embarked upon its plan of conquest and genocide, ibm and its subsidiaries helped create enabling technologies, stepbystep, from the identification and cataloging programs of the 1930s to the selections of the 1940s. A shocking account of ibms complicity with the nazis is a reminder that people. Ibm and the holocaust is the stunning story of ibms strategic alliance with nazi germany beginning in 1933 in the first weeks that hitler came to power and continuing well into world war ii. Ibm and nazi germany newly uncovered naziera documents shed light on the alleged role ibm played in helping hitler to carry out the holocaust in poland, according to the author of a controversial.