It has been known for a while that IBM had connections with the Nazis before World War 2 but today it has been announced that there is a book coming out that claims they were dealing with them during the war too, while the US was fighting with the allies.
For a long time it has been thought that the Nazis dealt with the German branch of IBM (Dehomag), but according to Edwin Black in his new book "IBM and The Holocaust" Germany was in direct discussion with IBM while fighting the war. He claims that a lawyer from IBM travelled to Germany in 1942 from New York to arrange for the transfer of money for the use of IBM products (punch card based systems with 15 people operating them, including a machine which was "bigger than a sofa"). The machine"s use is the most shocking revelation as it was servicing the Nazi occupation of Poland, which was of course the place where countless numbers of Jews were slaughtered inhumanly.
Last year survivors of the holocaust attempted to sue IBM - unsuccessfully. These new revelations come after Black has trawled through thousands of documents that show the true extent of IBM"s involvement in Nazi Germany.
Now the reputation of IBM could be torn apart should this information be used by tabloids. IBM predictably questions the evidence but Black is a Third Reich expert, although a quite controversial one who isn"t afraid to expose evidence like this. IBM also claims that if the revelations are proved true they will "be the first to condemn any actions that assisted the Nazi regime".
Edwin Black"s book "IBM and The Holocaust" (new edition) is published this week.
Source: The Sunday Times