Book Links IBM to Hitler NY Daily News 2/10/2001

[ARTISTpres at aol.com]

NY Daily News 2/10/2001
 Book Links IBM to Hitler
 
 By PAUL D. COLFORD
 Daily News Business Writer
 
 A tightly guarded book due to go on sale Monday will allege that IBM, now
 the world's sixth-largest company, had ties to the Third Reich and a role in
 carrying out Adolf Hitler's extermination of the Jews.
 
 The book was written by Edwin Black, who previously wrote "The Transfer
 Agreement: The Untold Story of the Secret Agreement Between the Third Reich
 and Jewish Palestine."
 
 IBM told its employees yesterday that the book would report that
 company-made tabulating machines were used by the Nazi regime and would
 speculate "on the activities of IBM's subsidiary in Germany at the time."
 
 IBM said it could not comment further "without access to the book's
 contents."
 
 The book will be released simultaneously in the United States by Crown
 Publishers and more than 40 other countries, although it's not in Crown's
 catalogue. New York-area retailers have ordered it based only on a few
 details provided by sales representatives.
 
 Manhattan-based Crown declined yesterday to identify the author or title but
 told news organizations that they would receive "an important and stunning
 book" about the Holocaust on Monday. Crown said in an e-mail that the author
 tapped "previously undisclosed primary sources" and worked with researchers
 and historians in seven countries.
 
 Crown also provided endorsements of the book, including one from famed Nazi
 hunter Simon Wiesenthal, who said it will "result in a shocking conclusion
 never realized before" and would address the "hidden history" of World War
 II.
 
 Asked for further details, Crown spokeswoman Tina Constable said, "It
 reveals a missing piece of Hitler's plan of Jewish persecution. It's a major
 book that could involve a wide variety of parties in the U.S. and Europe."
 
 Crown is a division of Random House, which is owned by Bertelsmann, the
 German media giant.
 
 IBM, which has annual revenues of $87.5 billion, is the world's
 sixth-largest company in Fortune magazine's closely watched ranking of
 corporate power.
 
 A history of IBM that appears on the computer maker's Web site says, "When
 World War II began, all IBM facilities were placed at the disposal of the
 U.S. government. IBM's product line expanded to include bombsights, rifles
 and engine parts — in all, more than three dozen major ordnance items."
 
 The head of IBM at the time was Thomas Watson, a corporate titan who led the
 company for decades.
 
 
 
 
 
 Original Publication Date: 2/10/01
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