IBM European Business Archive
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The IBM European Business Archive contains administrative and legal materials documenting the relationship between IBM and its subsidiaries in Germany, with the bulk of the materials deriving from 1933-1945. Much of the remainder of the collection relates to IBM's subsequent efforts to regain shareholder control of its German subsidiaries and machines after Allied victory.
Historical Note
International Business Machines Corporation was incorporated in New York State on June 16, 1911 under the name Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. In 1922, Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. purchased all of the shares of Deutsche Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft. In 1924 the official name of the company was changed to International Business Machines Corporation. In 1933, IBM CEO Thomas Watson ordered the merger of IBM subsidiaries in Germany (Optima, Degemag, Holgemag, Dehomag) under the name Dehomag, granting the company rights to sell Hollerith punch-card machines throughout Europe.
Arrangement
The IBM European Business Archive is organized alphabetically by broad subject headings reflecting the original arrangement of the IBM corporate archives. The collection is arranged into three series, retaining the series arrangement it had when it arrived at Fales from IBM Corporate Archives, via the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU. New arrangement schemes have only been imposed when large files contained tabbed subfolders, when a volume or pamphlet required its own folder, or when delicate or oversized material demanded removal from the original order.
- Series I: European Office Records
- Series II: Legal Records
- Series III: Ledgers
- Oversize - Series I: European Office Records
Scope and Content
The IBM European Business Archive contains materials related to the functioning of IBM and its German subsidiaries, with an emphasis on documents produced during and after World War II. At the folder level, materials cover a large date range, often from the early inter-war period to the early nineteen-sixties.
The most frequently occurring name in the collection is Willy Heidinger, creator of the firm Deutsche Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft (AKA DHMG or Dehomag). DHMG was a corporation devoted to the manufacture and sale of electronic punch-card devices for census use in Europe; it was eventually incorporated by IBM in 1933. The majority of the documents in series I and II refer to contested capital restructuring agreements between Heidinger and principal parties in German and American offices of IBM. Others involved in these disputes include Karl Humell and Hermann Rottke, Dehomag directors who received "loans" from IBM NY to give the appearance of compliance with the Third Reich's "Germanization" policies. These loan agreements are referenced in documents including Photostat copies of correspondence, original telegrams, and transcripts of phone conversations and other communication. Many of the documents are present in both German and English versions.
After the war, IBM engaged in recouping all of its Dehomag assets that had been displaced during the war. Attorney Harrison Chauncey, a chief negotiator for IBM NY, is represented here by travel documents, telegrams, and correspondence describing his visits to Germany to negotiate settlements between IBM and Dehomag representatives. Newspaper clippings and other ephemera appear inter alia, in their original context.
Accounting procedures for Dehomag are represented in Series III by general ledgers from 1933-1938 from three IBM Germany components (Optima, Gegemag and Dehomag). Series I contains extensive documentation of IBM's European assets as of the immediate post-war period, including investment recovery data, annual reports, account statements, auditors' reports, and location of rental machines in Europe.
SOURCES:
Black, E. (2001). IBM and the Holocaust: The strategic alliance between Nazi Germany and America's most powerful corporation. New York: Crown.
International Business Machines, Corp. In Business & Company Resource Center. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/ BCRC?vrsn=unknown&locID=nysl_me_tnypl&srchtp=glbc&cc=1&c=1&mode=c&ste=60&tbst=tsCM&tab=1&ccmp=International+Business+Machines+Corp.&mst=IBM&n=25&bConts=13311&ses=1
Dillard, J. (2003, Fall2003). "Professional Services, IBM, and the Holocaust." Journal of Information Systems, 17(2), 1-16. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from Business Source Premier database.
Subjects
People
Places
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
Rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) to portions of the collection were transferred to New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Fales Library and Special Collections. Please contact fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); IBM European Business Archive; MSS 126; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
The materials were given by the IBM Corporate Archives on "short-term loan" to NYU's Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies in 1999. In 2001 the collection was officially donated and transferred to the Fales Library and Special Collections.
About this Guide
Repository
Series I: European Office Records
Scope and Content note
SERIES I: European Office Records is composed of office records, grouped alphabetically by subject headings. The bulk of this series is devoted to financial correspondence between the IBM office in New York and IBM subsidiaries in Germany, including Degemag, Dehomag and Optima.
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Auditor's Report Dated May 10, 1947 on an Examination of the Accounts at December 31, 1945, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Auditor's Report, 1948, 1949, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Auditor's Report Dated May 15, 1949 on an Examination of the Tentative Accounts at June, 1948, 1949, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Auditor's Report Dated June 20, 1950, on an Examination of the Tentative Accounts at December 31, 1949, 1949-1950, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Auditor's Reports of 1950, 1951, 1950-1951, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Balance Sheets, 1948, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Correspondence Related to IBM Property Other Than Dehomag, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Correspondence Related to Recovery of Possession and Control of IBM Interests in Germany, 1945-1946, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Dehomag Account Statements - IBM Offices Outside Germany, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Dehomag Correspondence, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Dehomag Tax Situation, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Directors, Officers, Principal Managers of Dehomag as on December 31, 1946, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Explanations as to Comparative Balance Sheet and Statement of Proofit and Loss, 1949-1950, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: List of Plants, Sales, and Administrative Offices of Dehomag, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Material for the Calculation of Value of Minority Interest: Heidinger, Hummel, Rottke
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Pre-War Rental Equipment, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Registration of American-Owned Property, 1941, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Report on Dehomag Operating Methods, 1947, inclusive
Conditions as of December 31, 1946: Stockholders of Dehomag, Documents Related to Capital Correction, 1941-1947, inclusive
Correspondence and Memoranda, 1941-1946, inclusive
Decontrol of IBM Interests in Germany, 1947-1951, inclusive
Hummel and Rottke Loan Accounts - Divident Prepaid to Heidinger, 1938-1940, inclusive
Inter-Company Account (1 of 2), 1949-1950, inclusive
Inter-Company Account (2 of 2), 1948-1951, inclusive
Inter-Company Account Reconciliations, 1940-1942, inclusive
International Business Machines Corporation, New York: General Report and Enclosures 1-4, 1945-1946, inclusive
International Business Machines Corporation, New York: General Report Enclosure, 5-7, 1944-1945, inclusive
Investment Recovered, 1948-1953, inclusive
Investment Recovery Data (1 of 4), 1951-1952, inclusive
Investment Recovery Data (2 of 4), 1951-1952, inclusive
Investment Recovery Data (3 of 4), 1940-1949, inclusive
Investment Recovery Data (4 of 4), 1946-1949, inclusive
Investment Recovery Data/Investment Analysis, 1939-1949, inclusive
National Region Trade Council, Inc. (1 of 2), 1947-1948, inclusive
National Region Trade Council, Inc. (2 of 2), 1948-1951, inclusive
New York Goods Account Statement, 1940-1951, inclusive
Rental Machines, 1945-1950, inclusive
Reports to Military Authorities, 1945-1947, inclusive
Saar Territory, 1948, inclusive
Special Reports-New York, 1945-1957, inclusive
Series II: Legal Records
Scope and Content note
SERIES II: Legal Records is composed of Legal Records containing documentary evidence of transactions between IBM and its subsidiaries, including telephone transcripts, telegrams and letters.
Annual Report: "Deutsche Bank und Disconto-Gesellschaft", 1933, inclusive
Bulletins, Opinions, Revelations, Correspondence, 1932-1966, inclusive
Capitalization and Incorporation: Degemag, 1939, inclusive
Capitalization and Incorporation: "Gesellschaft für Geschaftmaschinen", 1910-1951, inclusive
Capitalization and Incorporation: Ingemag, 1910-1951, inclusive
Capitalization and Incorporation: "New" Dehomag, 1910-1951, inclusive
Capitalization and Incorporation: "Old" Dehomag, 1910-1951, inclusive
Capitalization and Incorporation: Optima, 1910-1951, inclusive
Correspondence: Heidinger, et al, Shareholdings, 1940-1955, inclusive
Correspondence and Phone Conversations: Chauncey, Heidinger Share Transfer, 1940-1941, inclusive
IBM European Business Archive
The IBM European Business Archive is arranged alphabetically within three series, as the collection appeared when it arrived at Fales. New arrangement schemes have only been imposed when large files contained tabbed subfolders, when a volume or pamphlet required its own folder, or when delicate or oversized material demanded separation from the original order.
SERIES I is composed of European Office Records, grouped alphabetically by subject headings. The bulk of this series is devoted to financial correspondence between the IBM office in New York and IBM subsidiaries in Germany, including Degemag, Dehomag and Optima.
SERIES II is composed of Legal Records containing documentary evidence of transactions between IBM and its subsidiaries, including telephone transcripts, telegrams and letters.
SERIES III comprises business ledgers from IBM Germany: Degemag, Dehomag and Optima.
Correspondence Related to Shareholdings, 1922-1957, inclusive
Dividend Policy (Willy Heidinger): Correspondence, 1914-1938, inclusive
Financial Statements, Reports and Correspondence: Dehomag (1 of 3), 1940-1948, inclusive
Financial Statements, Reports and Correspondence: Dehomag (2 of 3), 1940-1948, inclusive
Financial Statements, Reports and Correspondence: Dehomag (3 of 3), 1914-1939, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: Degemag, 1939, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: Gesellschaft fur Geschaftsmaschinen, 1910-1958, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: Gesellschaft fur Geschaftsmaschinen - Bundesgesetzblatt, 1910-1958, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: Ingemag, 1910-1959, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: "New" Dehomag, 1910-1958, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: "Old" Dehomag, 1910-1959, inclusive
Incorporation: Bylaws and Charter: Optima, 1910-1959, inclusive
Incorporation: Correspondence Re: Mergers, 1932-1938, inclusive
Incorporation: Documents Related to Corporate Name Change, 1934-1960, inclusive
Incorporation: General Correspondence, 1934-1960, inclusive
Incorporation: Merger Documents (English Translation), 1910-1941, inclusive
Incorporation: Merger Documents (German Text), 1910-1941, inclusive
Language of Materials
Loan Agreement, Miscellaneous Documents (Karl Hummel, Willy Heidinger, Hermann Rottke), 1937-1953, inclusive
Machines: Customer Engineering Service, U.S. Military Installations, 1946-1950, inclusive
Machines: "Der Rechenlocher Type II" Publication, c. 1945, inclusive
Machines, Manufacturing and Shipping: Documents and Correspondence, 1935-1950, inclusive
Minutes of the Regular Shareholders' Meetings, 1934-1960, inclusive
Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1941-1968, inclusive
Miscellaneous Documents, Reports on Business Travel: (Harrison K. Chauncey), 1940-1948, inclusive
Price Lists and Related Correspondence (1 of 2), 1938-1948, inclusive
Price Lists and Related Correspondence (2 of 2)
Rental Machines: Documents and Correspondence, 1935-1950, inclusive
Rottke, Hermann: Loan Agreement, 1937-1953, inclusive
Share Transfer Drafts: Heidinger, et al., 1937-1953, inclusive
Shareholdings: Documentary Evidence (Exhibits 1-7), 1922-1958, inclusive
Shareholdings: Documentary Evidence (Exhibits 8-16), 1922-1958, inclusive
Shareholdings: Documentary Evidence: "Gesellschaft fur Elektrische Unternehmungen Aktiengesellschaft" Annual Report, 1939, inclusive
Shareholdings: Documentary Evidence: Unexecuted Affidavit, 1948, inclusive
Shareholdings: Documentary Evidence, Correspondence, 1940-1941, inclusive
Taxes and Related Correspondence, 1932-1967, inclusive
Trademark Agreement: Electromatic Typewriters and Mercedes Euromaschinen-Werke Aktiengesellschaft, 1935, inclusive
Trademarks and Copyrights, 1914-1958, inclusive
Series III: Ledgers
Scope and Content note
SERIES III: Ledgers comprises business ledgers from IBM Germany: Degemag, Dehomag and Optima. Due to the deterioration of the bindings of the ledgers, their pages have been removed and housed in folders.
Degemag 1933, 1933, inclusive
Degemag 1934, 1934, inclusive
Germany Degemag 1935, 1935, inclusive
Germany Degemag 1936, 1936, inclusive
Degemag 1937, 1937, inclusive
Degemag 1938, 1938, inclusive
Dehomag 1933, 1933, inclusive
Dehomag 1934, 1934, inclusive
Germany Dehomag 1935, 1935, inclusive
Germany Dehomag 1936, 1936, inclusive
Dehomag 1937, 1937, inclusive
Dehomag 1938, 1938, inclusive
Optima 1933, 1933, inclusive
Optima 1934, 1934, inclusive
Germany Optima 1935, 1935, inclusive
Germany Optima 1936, 1936, inclusive
Optima 1937, 1937, inclusive
Optima 1938, 1938, inclusive
Oversize - Series I: European Office Records
Language of Materials
Scope and Content note
The Oversize series consists of a small number of documents that had originally been folded and stored in legal-sized folders.
