Continually invoking Nazi re-employment cliches, Heidinger promised that Dehomag would provide “bread and work” for German citizens. In that vein, he said that IBM had calculated the cost of a grand opening banquet and instead would contribute the 10,000 Reichsmarks to the Winter Subsidy, a Nazi program donating funds and food to those thrown into deeper joblessness by the international anti-Nazi boycott.41
He concluded by unveiling a building plaque commemorating the factory both to “the national awakening of the German people” and to its future. Heidinger concluded by asking that “the blessing of heaven may rest upon this place.”42
Final remarks were offered by Schmeer on behalf of the powerful German Labor Front. “German men, German women,” he proclaimed, “the fact that we are on the way up under Hitler’s leadership despite the present conditions was doubted by many, not just by our enemies, but also by people who were willing to work honestly and diligently. The opening of this factory… shows that the road Hitler has prescribed and which he took last year was right, namely to bring trust into the German economy. People in the past were not lacking commitment to hard work but they lacked trust… the Volks community now present in this factory is here to stay, and stay for all eternity…. It will produce goods, which will help our people in their ascent.”43
Snapping into respect, Schmeer pumped his arm forward exclaiming, “I now ask you to collect our joy and cry out: ‘Our Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, Sieg Heil!’” The crowd reciprocated with fire: Sieg Heil! The choir burst into the national anthem, “Deutschland uber Alles.” 44
Marching out enthusiastic and reassured, swept into the moment, the regaled Brown Shirts chanted the “Horst Wessel Song.” 45
For IBM and Dehomag both, it was an extraordinary day of Nazi communion. Two days later, Jones sent off verbatim translations of the speeches to Watson with an enthusiastic cover letter declaring, “as your representative, I attended the formal opening… I have never witnessed a more interesting ceremony.” Jones attached a list of all the Nazi figures that attended, and even made clear that the dignitaries included the SA’s “Gorlitzer, who succeeded Dr. Goebbels in the latter’s former position.” Jones’ letter proudly mentioned “a full company of Nazi storm troups [ sic] with band” and promised IBM’s Leader that plenty of photos would follow.46
Watson sent a personal letter to Heidinger. “Mr. Jones sent me a copy of the speech you made at the opening of the new factory in Berlin… and I have read it with a great deal of interest… you are certainly to be congratulated upon the manner in which you conveyed your thoughts.” The company was so proud of the event that Dehomag printed commemorative programs of the event with photographs and transcripts of the speeches made at both the census complex and the factory.47
There was no turning back now. IBM and the Nazi party had bonded. Swastikas and corporate slogans had found their common ground. Day and night, the Jewish names clattered through IBM systems, faster and faster, city by city, profession by profession. Dehomag was the Third Reich’s informational deliverer. As such, they were afforded a special place in the mindset of Nazi planners. It was an awesome responsibility for Dehomag and IBM, but one they accepted with doctrinaire devotion.
The feeling was captured by one Nazi newspaper, Der Deutsche, which sent a reporter to cover the Lichterfelde ceremonies. The paper quoted Heidinger on the nature of the company. Heidinger explained it this way: “Children’s character is determined by their parents. Firms’ by their founders.”48
GERMANY WAS quietly tabulating.
While Hitler’s rhetoric was burning the parade grounds and airwaves, while Storm Troopers were marching Jews through the streets in ritual humiliations, while Reich legislative decrees and a miasma of regional and private policies were ousting Jews from their professions and residences, while noisy, outrageous acts of persecution were appalling the world, a quieter process was also underway. Germany was automating.
Hollerith systems could do more than count. They could schedule, analyze, and compute. They could manage.
Several dozen Hollerith systems were already in use by a small clique of German industrial firms and government offices.49 But now Hitler’s Reich discovered that in its quest for supremacy, it could mechanize, organize, and control virtually all aspects of private and commercial life, from the largest industrial cartel to the humblest local shopkeeper. Just as people would be categorized and regimented down to the least characteristic, so would all of German business be analyzed to the smallest detail—and then subject to Nazi discipline. The economy could recover. People could go back to work. But it would all be done toward a single, totally coordinated Nazi goal.
A global movement was loudly organizing to shatter the German economy and topple the repressive Hitler regime by denying economic recovery, prolonging German joblessness, and boycotting German commerce. But IBM was mobilizing its financial and engineering might to do the opposite. General Manager Rottke echoed IBM’s attitude at the Lichterfelde factory opening, declaring, “We are able to hereby assist our government in its battle against unemployment.” Work and bread was the theme IBM and Dehomag used again and again to describe their venture—all in support of the National Socialist goal. As Heidinger told his audience, “Public interest prevails over private interest.”50
Hollerith technology had become a German administrative way of life. Punch cards would enable the entire Reich to go on a war footing. For IBM, it was a bonanza.
Dehomag’s client list sparkled. Electrical combines such as Siemens in Berlin and Lech-Elektrizitatswerke in Augsburg. Heavy industry such as Mannesmann in Dusseldorf and I.G. Farben in Frankfurt. Automakers such as Opel in Russelsheim and Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart. Retail stores such as Woolworth and Hertie in Berlin. Optical manufacturers such as Zeiss in Jena and Zeiss Ikon in Dresden. Chocolate factories such as Schokoladenfabrik in Tangermunde. Coffee producers such as Kaffee Handels A.G. in Bremen.51
Aircraft engines: 10 customers; coal mining: 7 customers; chemical plants: 18 customers; electrical products: 10 customers; motor vehicle industry: 11 customers; shipbuilders: 2 customers; railroads, buses, trams, and other transportation: 32 customers; insurance companies: 26 customers; banks: 6 customers; public utilities: 16 customers; iron and steeclass="underline" 19 customers; turbines, engines, and tractors: 7 customers.52
Leather tanning, washing machine manufacture, liquor, paint and var-nishes, cigarettes, perfumes, railway car assembly, ball bearings, rubber, petroleum, shoes, oleomargarine, asbestos, explosives.53
Reichspost, Reichsbahn, Pension Funds, the Luftwaffe, the Navy.54
Payroll, inventory control, material strength calculations, personnel, finance, scheduling, product usage, and manufacturing supervision.55 There was virtually no business that could not benefit from punch card technology. Dehomag deftly controlled the data operations of the entire Reich.
Moreover, one Dehomag customer account could represent dozens of machines. Hollerith systems involved an ensemble of interconnected devices that could be manufactured in a variety of configurations. Punchers, proofers, verifiers, sorters, tabulators, alphabetizers, multipliers, printers. I.G. Farben in stalled arrays in Offenbach, Bitterfeld, Berlin, Hoechst, and other locations. Daimler-Benz utilized machines in Berlin, Stuttgart, Genshagen, and other sites. Junkers employed Hollerith devices in Magdeburg, Leopoldshall, Kothen, Dessau, and numerous other cities. Municipalities everywhere used the machines. Frankfurt am Main’s Public Works Department alone maintained an extended suite of punchers, verifiers, tabulators, multipliers, and sorters. Statis tical offices—federal, regional, and local—could not lease enough systems.56