Dehomag

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German subsidiary of IBM

title: "Dehomag" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["former-ibm-subsidiaries", "companies-involved-in-the-holocaust", "technology-companies-established-in-1910", "german-companies-established-in-1910"] description: "German subsidiary of IBM" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehomag" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German subsidiary of IBM ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	DEHOMAG
logo	Dehomag-logo.svg
type	Subsidiary
parent	IBM
foundation
defunct
hq_location	Berlin and Sindelfingen
industry	Computing
::

Dehomag was a German subsidiary of IBM and later a standalone company with a monopoly in the German market before and during World War II. The word was a syllabic abbreviation for Deutsche Hollerith-Maschinen GmbH (). Hollerith refers to the German-American inventor of the technology of punched cards, Herman Hollerith. In April 1949 the company name was changed to IBM Deutschland.

Background

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Punched_Card.jpg" caption="A general-purpose [[punched card]] from the mid twentieth century."] ::

The technology of punched cards dates back to the 18th century when it was used for mass production of woven textiles and later used as a recording and playback system in player pianos. The use of punched cards for recording and tabulating data was first proposed and used by Semyon Korsakov around 1805. In 1832 Charles Babbage proposed using similar cards to program and to store computations for his calculating engine. Punched card technology was further developed for data-processing by Herman Hollerith from the 1880s. It was used for the 1890 United States census and for the census work of several foreign governments.

History

Willy Heidinger, an acquaintance of Hollerith, licensed all of Hollerith's The Tabulating Machine Company patents in 1910, and created Dehomag in Germany. In 1911 The Tabulating Machine Company was amalgamated (via stock acquisition) with three others, creating a fifth company, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). In 1923 CTR acquired 90% ownership of Dehomag, thus acquiring patents developed by them. In 1924 CTR was renamed IBM.

Holocaust

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Tabelliermaschine_D11_DEHOMAG_TSD_(3).JPG" caption="Tabulating machine D11, the first universal numerical tabulating machine. Such machines were used by the Nazi German administration in organizing documents related to the Holocaust."] ::

As an IBM subsidiary, Dehomag became the main provider of computing expertise and equipment in Nazi Germany. Dehomag gave the German government the means for two official censuses of the population after 1933 and for searching its data. The government of Nazi Germany used the tabulating machines that Dehomag received before violent events like Kristallnacht for tracing Jews and dissidents. It enabled them to search databases rapidly and efficiently, and the methods were used throughout occupied Europe by the Gestapo and others to locate and arrest its victims, contributing to the Holocaust.

Dehomag leased and maintained the German government's punched card machines. Before World War II, Dehomag's general manager for Germany, Hermann Rottke, reported directly to IBM President Thomas J. Watson in New York.

IBM New York established a special subsidiary in the occupied General Government territory, Watson Business Machines, to deal with railway traffic there during the Holocaust in Poland.

Leon Krzemieniecki, the last surviving person involved in the administration of the rail transportation to Auschwitz and Treblinka, stated he knew the punched card machines were not German machines, because the labels were in English. Income from the machines leased in General Government was sent through Geneva to IBM in New York.

References

Black, Edwin. (March 26, 2002). "Final Solutions". Village Voice.
Black, Edwin. (2002). "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation.". Time Warner Paperbacks.
Black, Edwin. (2012). "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation. Expanded Edition". Dialog Press.
Black, Edwin. (2012). "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation. Expanded Edition". Dialog Press.
Black, Edwin. (2012). "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation. Expanded Edition". Dialog Press.
Elkin, Larry M.. (July 6, 2011). "IBM: A Centenarian's Imperfect But Impressive Recall". [[Business Insider]].
(1990). "Computing Before Computers". Iowa State University Press.
Black, Edwin. (2012). "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation. Expanded Edition". Dialog Press.
(2001). "IBM and the Holocaust : the strategic alliance between Nazi Germany and America's most powerful corporation". Crown Publishers.
Black, Edwin. (2012). "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation. Expanded Edition". Dialog Press.
Burkeman, Oliver. (March 29, 2002). "IBM 'dealt directly with Holocaust organisers'". [[guardian.co.uk]].
Belden, Thomas and Marva. (1962). "The Lengthening Shadow: The Life of Thomas J. Watson". Little, Brown and Company, Inc..
Black, Edwin. (May 19, 2002). "The business of making the trains to Auschwitz run on time". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].

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