Dehomag
Dehomag was a German business, effectively a franchisee and subcompany of IBM. The word was an acronym for Deutsche Hollerith-Maschinen Gesellschaft mbH - "German Hollerith Machines LLC." Hollerith refers to the German-American inventor of the technology of punched cards, Herman Hollerith.
Under Nazi Germany, Dehomag was the state company that leased and maintained the Nazis' collection of punch card machines. The use of this technology increased the efficiency of the Final Solution.
The Hollerith Punch-card system was invented for the USA's Census Bureau around 1890 by Hollerith. Also leasing the machines to foreign governments, including Russia, for their census work. Willy Heidinger, an acquaintance of Hollerith, licensed all of Hollerith’s patents in 1910, and created Dehomag in Germany.
Further reading
- Black, Edwin. IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation' ISBN 0-609-60799-5
- CNN: "A Swiss court allows Gypsies' Holocaust lawsuit to proceed"
- Dehomag D11 tabulation machine exhibit in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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