DOC IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. IBM and the Holocaust: Purchased at .comBy depWhat a book! To say this is an astounding book is an understatement. It is; however; astounding. This book examines in minute detail the relationship between Germany and IBM from 1933 - 1945. To me; the evidence is all there. Basically; IBM decided to go with money and profits; rather than do what was morally right; which was not to do business with a country run by a dictatorship that started a World War; totally disregarded human rights; and after 1941 was a sworn enemy of the United States. As much as I was enthralled by this book; I must admit it was a bit too much for me. I didn't realize the size of it when I bought it. I do admire the amount of research put into the book; the amount of people working on it was amazing. Sadly; what happened with IBM isn't that surprising. Many big corporations are out for power and greed. When you even have a corporate song; though; that is a bit much. It sounds like Mr. Watson was running a kingdom more than he was running a business. For me; the eerie part of this book is that in my first job; I dealt with punch cards for over ten years. Never did I dream that they could be put to such an evil use. Definitely a five star book for me.4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Greed greed greed and more greed sadly. The same disgusting tale served up a million times.By steve ukI have to admit I've just got to around page 50; but I can already see why Thomas J Watson was capable of what he did with his cohorts. The people who created the monster he became were no better. Corporate greed of the most insidious kind. A dreadful history of destructive indifference. A truly disturbing book to read. I don't believe there was any conscious intent to help Nazi Grmany to realize it's horrendous goal; but I do believe that IBM did this with a wholely couldn't care less; eyes on the huge profits and world domination in the field attitude; which makes them no better than willing accomplices in my opinion. It's to much to believe with IBM's involvement to the point of visiting the camps to keep the machines running and train staff they didn't at some time become aware of the terrible truth. Their greed blinded them to the murderous use their machinery was being used for. Could they have just closed down their operations if they wanted to in Nazi occupied Europe or more to the point would they have wanted to even knowing what they knew?0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An indictment of not only IBM and its founder Thomas Watson but of a corporate culture of profits firstBy CustomerThis is an interesting; frightening; well researched book that shows how IBM equipment was used to help the Nazis plan and implement the Holocaust and how IBM and its founder Thomas Watson chose to ignore the horrors of Nazi Germany in order to garner huge profits in a number of devious ways. As this book points out; IBM was not the only international corporation dealing with the Nazis before and during the war but was one of the most important. While Watson was at times sympathetic to the German people and even to the Nazis; I think that he was motivated not by antisemitism but by a very ruthless form of capitalism that placed power and profits above all else. It is an awful lesson that is as relevant today as it was then.Edwin Black has done and presented a huge amount of research in order to bring out the very disturbing facts about IBM's role in the Holocaust and the German war effort. Unfortunately he often gets carried away in presenting far more examples than are needed to make his points. He also has a tendency; when discussing some of the key figures and events; to make chronological leaps. In one paragraph you may be reading about an event in 1933 then jump to 1941 then back to 1933 making it hard to follow. For these reasons I have reduced the rating to 4 stars.