Ordinary People: IBM, Nazis, and Code 6: Sonderbehandlung

When people think of the holocaust, they typically think of those whom directly contributed to the horrible acts which were inflicted on their fellow man by the same. What they tend to miss or perhaps refuse to acknowledge in some way, is the same act(s) committed by somebody no more or less ordinary than themselves. Such people were a common constant during the years of World War II, in both Germany as well as the United States. One example were the people of International Business Machines (IBM). The people of IBM were responsible by direct assistance, witness, and failure to report the actions of the Nazi regime and government.

International Business Machines (IBM) is a multinational American technology and consulting firm which was founded in Endicott, New York on June 16, 1911. Since its founding IBM has become one of the leading developers in the industry of computer technology and information hardware and software. However, most people are completely unaware of the dark history which has trailed IBM like a towering shadow. In 1914, Thomas J. Watson took over the leadership and gave the company its current name. Thomas would lead the company to unforeseen revenue and success during his 42 year reign over the company.

IBM and Watson were contacted by the German government to initially develop census machines which would produce and tabulate census information (fig 1.1). This technology would be used to gather information on the different people(s) living under the reign of the Third Reich; much more specifically, who and where the Polish Jews were living in Germany (fig 2.1). The initial program became so successful in gathering the exact types of information the Nazis wanted, that Hitler awarded Thomas Watson with the prestigious Order of the German Eagle, an award given to prominent foreigners who were considered sympathetic to Nazism.

With the success of the initial census system, the Nazis saw further potential in the technology by seeking to implement it in their “Final Solution”. When moving large amounts of anything, in this case people, a fairly large and meticulous tracking system is needed in such an undertaking; especially by the German people who were infamous list makers and record keepers. The Nazis sought to place a minimum of one punch card/tabulating machine in each of their 65 major camps as well as each shipping and receiving stations. This would mean an excess of 100 leased IBM machines in a variety of locations throughout Nazi Germany. Because the technology was closely guarded by IBM (they owned 90% of the punch card systems in the world at that time) and because the machines would be leased, not sold, they needed to be serviced by IBM personnel.

Due to the risk of falling out of calibration and the time it would take to ship the machines back and forth both IBM and the German government decided that the machines would be serviced on site by IBM personnel every 30 days. This would mean that each of the technicians would visit the location(s) of the machines at least once a month. In doing so, the IBM technician would have been exposed to the sights and sounds of what was occurring at both the shipping stations, camps, as well as the information listed on the punch cards and code sheets (which were also custom made by IBM in New York). These code sheets and punch cards described what type of person the prisoner was (Jew, Jehovah’s Witness, Homosexual, etc) and what the status of the prisoner was (fig 3.1)

The code sheets for the statuses would have been most obvious to what was occurring in the camps. Such codes were listed as escaped, suicide, shot, executed and the most notorious of them all: Code 6 – “Sonderbehandlung” (Special Treatment)(The Corporation). All this exposure would have had to have some social, moral or perhaps psychological impact on the IBM employee at any level, working on the German products. This leads to the ultimate question as to whether or not most played a willing or unwilling part in the system of assistance to the Nazis.

Could it have been a form of isolationism which would have made the individual turn a blind eye? “I’m an American, this is not my problem.” Perhaps, putting the blinders on to simply o a job you were contracted to do and nothing more. Or the worst case scenario that the worker enjoyed doing this task, either at first or further along, of helping the Nazis implement their system of eradication. Even in the latter, one can understand that the people did not seek to become a butcher’s assistant and run to the aid of mass murderers. Yet, perhaps a door was opened which could not be closed.

It’s said that everything gets easier with time and repetition, and could this also be the case with killing or the indirect assistance of killing? Or perhaps failing to reflect would cause this moral chasm in personal action. Reflecting on the observations of Arendt, Jennifer Geddes came to the understanding that “the failure to think reflectively about the world around us, our actions, and their possible consequences-can be a moral failing of the highest order (Geddes)” These same questions would come into play decades later here in our own country. During his Civil Rights Address, John F. Kennedy reminded us that “the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened” (Kennedy).

Could it have been reflection or self-realization which kept such people on their paths of assistance or was it something else? If it was apathy which kept them continuing on, I fear it must have been some of the strongest in the history of the world. Oppression is a struggle in which every human capable of thought and emotion can identify with. However I believe it comes down to each individual to make the difference. As Dr. Martin Luther King stated: “Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but groups tend to be more immoral than the individuals” (King) perhaps proving that none of us are as cruel as all of us.

Another possibility could be the fact that because these technicians were in such close and constant contact with the soldiers that they too came to believe the propaganda that these prisoners were in fact there for a good reason. And in such a light could have been easily viewed as prisoners of a war or enemies of the state. This would fall under Narveson’s concept of self-defense: “The selves who defend are often different from the selves defended” (Narveson). Thus being the theory that the Nazis are defending the German people from the “threat” and “destruction” caused by the Jews.

It’s only in retrospect that we can finely tune our own moral compass to recognize individual as well as group wrong. I can’t help but see some of the same mental states and misdirection in our current state of affairs as concerned with out “War on Terror”. My only hope is that we don’t fall victim to the same excuses and pitfall that many before us have.

Works Cited

Black, Edwin. IBM and The Holocaust. Maryland: Crown Books, 2001. Print.

The Corporation. Dir. Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbot. Zeitgeist Films. 2003. Film.

Geddes, Jennifer. “Blueberries, Accordians, and Auschwitz.” College Composition Custom Book. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010. Amanda Corcoran.

Kennedy, John F. “Civil Rights Addess.” Washington, D.C. 11 June 1963. Televised Address.

King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jial.” Literature and its Times, Supplement 1, Part 2, ed. by Joyce Moss (Detroit; London: Gale, 2003), pp. 269-277.

Narveson, Jan. “Morality and Violence.” College Composition Custom Book. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010. Amanda Corcoran.