[2] 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.

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.

[6] Before World War II, Dehomag's general manager for Germany, Hermann Rottke, reported directly to IBM President Thomas J. Watson in New York.

[10][11] It was legal for companies in United States to conduct business with Germany directly until the country entered the war in December 1941.

[12][13] 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.