IBM and the Holocaust (Paperback)

The level of detail is astonishing and certainly when I finished the book I was in no doubt about its accuracy making this a quite incredible book on such a controversial topic. I actually found some of the earlier chapters easier to read describing how Thomas Watson built the IBM empire from the turn of the century. The way Watson is portrayed as portraying himself as a champion of Nazism and a champion of democracy at the same time is very clearly written. However, it loses a point in my rating because it’s so tough to read from that point onwards – my gut feel is that the 400 pages contained in this book (I assume the details about this book refer to a smaller page format) could be condensed to 300 making it into a quite superb read.

That said, that this book is essential reading for anyone in IT with an interest in IBM, and of course anyone who has worked for IBM!

The core of the story is how a key IBM technology, the Hollerith-based card tabulating machines, became available for the Nazi war and Holocaust efforts. Although the details are murky (and may remain so), it is fairly clear that the use of this technology was sustained during the war years in part by shipments of customized (for each end user) tabulating cards from IBM in neutral countries for everything from blitzkriegs to slave camp scheduling to transportation to the death camps. There was not enough paper capacity to make the cards in Europe (that the Nazi and IBM records show were used), and there is no evidence that Nazis created substitutes for these essential supplies.

As Mr. Black warns, "This book will be profoundly uncomfortable to read." I agree. My sleep will not be the same for some time after experiencing this powerful story.

Mr. Black makes an even stronger statement. "So if you intend to skim, or rely on selected sections, do not read the book at all." I took him at his word, and did not even read the book quickly. I also arranged to read it in several sittings, so I could think about what I had read in between. I recommend that you do the same.

The reason for my recommendation is that your thinking will change very fundamentally through reading the book. Having read dozens of books by fine historians about the Nazi period, and knowing a great deal about the history of data processing, I assumed that there would be little new to the story here. But the title intrigued me. By the fourth time I saw the book, I could no longer resist it.

What I found inside the book surprised, shocked, and amazed me.

First, many authors claim that it was not clear in the United States that Jews were losing their lives in Europe during the Nazi years until just before the end of the war. This book documents many articles that appeared in the New York Times that certainly seemed to be saying that this systematic killing was going on from very near the time when it began. Anyone who ignored these reports just didn't want to know.

Second, the book makes many connections between Thomas Watson, Sr. and Nazi Germany. Many things surprised me about this. One, he was there once or twice a year until just before World War II began. The horrible human abuses were probably observed first hand by him then. Two, he had friends who were victimized by the Nazis. Three, he accepted a very prestigious medal from Hitler in 1937 (which he returned in June 1940). Four, he spoke in favor of making U.S. policy pro-German until just before the United States entered World War II. Five, it appeared that he had a lot more concern about IBM's profits and machines in Europe than about any people there.

Third, although I was very familiar with the improvements in industrial and transportation effectiveness in Germany during the Nazi years, I did not realize that IBM's design of Hollerith machines for card tabulation was a breakthrough technology that enabled this progress.

Fourth, I had always been amazed that the Nazis had such detailed records of the geneologies of European Jews. What I did not realize was that much of this information was provided by Jewish citizens in government censuses, and was quickly processed into records used by oppressors on Hollerith machines leased from IBM or its subsidiaries.

In France, where the use of these machines was subverted by the Resistance, the percentage rate of Jewish deaths was one-third of what occurred in Holland where this technology was well applied. It is hard to avoid the feeling that millions of people died because these machines were available and kept supplied with parts and punch cards for the Nazis.

One cannot help but draw the comparison between this historical example and the companies and countries (including, apparently, the United States) that have more recently allowed critical nuclear, rocket, and satellite technology to become available to repressive regimes. It seems that by not asking questions about IBM and the Holocaust, we may be continuing to make many of the same mistakes today.

I salute the incredible imagination and back-breaking effort that went into assembling this astonishing set of documents and perspectives. I hope that many people will read the book, that scholars will look for more information to expand our understanding, and that the fundamental questions raised by this book will be debated wherever free people live.

Remember: Your freedom is only as good as that of the least free person, who is most vulnerable.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."

If all the Nazis had was pen and paper organisation, it would have been impossible to put together the assembly-line slaughter of millions of people. It was a cross-tabulation and organisational challenge so monumental, it called for a computer. Of course, in the 1930s no computer existed. But IBM's Hollerith punch card technology did. Only with IBM's technologic assistance was Hitler able to achieve the staggering numbers of the Holocaust. It is clear that the Holocaust would have happened anyway and without the help of IBM. It just would not have happened on that enormous scale.

The book unearths the efforts expended by IBM in the USA, Germany and elsewhere in Europe to place its equipment and expertise at the hands of the Nazi death machine in pursuit of profit. It is an object lesson in how commercial zeal dominated morals and principles.

This is a fascinating read and will certainly find its place in Holocaust literature. However, Black never really seems to attempt to substantiate his accusations which, considering the gravity of the charge, is a too serious an omission.