:37:02
IBM would
of course say
:37:04
they had no control over
its German subsidiaries.
:37:06
But here on
October 9th 1941
:37:09
a letter is being
written directly
:37:11
to Thomas J. Watson
with all sorts of detail
:37:14
of the activity of
the German subsidiary
:37:17
none of these
machines were sold
:37:20
they were all
leased by IBM.
:37:22
They had to be serviced
on site once a month
:37:25
even if that was
at a concentration camp.
:37:28
This is a typical contract
with IBM and the Third Reich.
:37:32
Which was instituted in 1942.
:37:35
It's not with the Dutch
subsidiary
:37:37
it's not with the German
subsidiary.
:37:39
It is with IBM
corporation in New York.
:37:44
You know as it happens
I know that story.
:37:49
I discussed it more than once
with old Mr. Watson
:37:53
and I was around
at the time.
:37:55
Im not saying that Watson
didnt know
:37:58
that the German government
used punch cards.
:38:00
He probably did know
:38:03
after all he had
very few customers.
:38:05
Watson didnt want
to do it.
:38:07
It was not because he thought
it was immoral or not
:38:10
but because Watson
:38:12
with a very keen sense
of public relations
:38:14
thought it was risky.
:38:17
It should not surprise us that
corporate allegiance
:38:19
to profits will trump their
allegiance to any flag.
:38:22
A recent U. S. Treasury
Department report
:38:25
revealed in one
week alone
:38:27
57 U. S. corporations
were fined
:38:29
for trading with official
enemies of the United States
:38:33
including terrorists tyrants
and despotic regimes.
:38:44
...you can roughly locate any
community somewhere along
:38:47
a scale running all the way
from democracy to despotism.
:38:55
This man makes it his job
to study these things....
:38:58
Well for one thing