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this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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IBM sold "inmate" counting machines to Nazi Germany. Like, sent techs there to the camps to size up the requirements and everything. It should NOT come as a surprise that they're back on X - they've never had an issue with Fascism (or any other ism) as long as they had money to spend on overpriced iron.
Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but why would they even need a machine to count the prisoners? If they didn't feed their victims and were planning to murder them anyways I'm having trouble understanding why they wouldn't be okay with just a loose head count. Was it really just for counting?
I hope I'm not coming across as insensitive, I've just never heard about this and it sounds so ominous.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
Dear God, they used a punch card like it was just another day on the job? I hope they didn't make the "prisoners" do it. I don't know why this is so chilling but something about having to count yourself like an object makes me feel sick.
What makes you think they didn't feed them?
I know I'm way over simplifying but starvation was one of many cruelties inflicted on victims during the holocaust. I don't understand why Nazis would want to count people they intended to murder, but I think it's important to try to understand as much as we can so we don't let it happen again. Which is why I asked.
Well, if you're that curious, there is a book about it. The Wikipedia article goes into some detail about what the systems were used for.
They didn't just truck people into the camps and immediately kill them, so they had to at least track capacity.