Facsimile of Hollerith punch card used in a 1933 Berlin population and vocational census.

Facsimile of Hollerith punch card used in a 1933 Berlin population and vocational census.

USHMM P.E. LABEL: "The Hollerith Machine sophisticated technology helped the regime locate its victims quickly and efficiently. At the time, Holleriths were the best data processing devices available. The sorter on the left used contact brushes to sort punch-cards according to specific criteria. The tabulator on the right counted the already sorted cards. Hollerith machines tabulated national census data in 1933 and 1939; during the war, the SS used them to manage the huge numbers of prisoners shipped in and out of concentration camps. The machines were manufactured by a firm called DEHOMAG, for "Deutsche Hollerith-Machinen Gesellschaft" (German to Hollenith Machine Company). DEHOMAG has been a subsidiary of IBM since 1922."