Summary:

One of Brown’s most prominent academic buildings is named after a man complicit in the Holocaust. 

Few students notice that the Brown University Center for Information Technology (CIT) is named for Thomas J Watson,  Sr, the former President of International Business Machines (IBM).   

During his time leading IBM, Watson Sr. collaborated with Nazi Germany and Nazi officials, including Adolf Hiter, and profited off of providing technology instrumental in the organization of the Holocaust. Watson leased state-of-the-art IBM technology to the Reich, utilized to systematically identify and track Jews and other “non-Aryans.”   

Watson’s IBM technology was instrumental in the prosecution and genocide of millions of Jews, Romas, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Slavs, peoples of African descent, and members of the disabled and LGBTQ communities.  

This petition calls upon Brown to cease honoring this genocide collaborator by removing Watson Sr.’s name from the CIT. 

Please sign and share this petition and read on for more details regarding Watson Sr.’s complicity in genocide. 

Please note: Thomas Watson Sr. is not to be confused with his son, Thomas Watson Jr., a Brown alum for whom the Brown Institute for International and Public Affairs is named. 

 

Leasing IBM Technology to Nazi Germany

IBM controlled sophisticated electromechanical tabulating technology which was a predecessor of the modern computer system. 

Watson's ongoing business relationship with the Nazi Regime was critical in the organization of the Holocaust, as IBM's technology was central to the management of inmates in concentration camps and ethnic identification efforts organized via national censuses.

Under Watson, IBM leased and maintained its powerful technology for Nazi Germany which the Reich used in censuses to identify “undesirables” in its population. This history is documented in an exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.  IBM designed custom machines and punch card programs for the Reich.

Germany’s 1939 census was particularly heinous with the New York Times noting in 1939 that the census would force German’s to reveal and prove whether they were of “pure ‘Aryan’ blood.” 

Additionally, IBM technology was used to organize the management of concentration camps as well as various Nazi military operations. Thus, IBM’s technology and Watson’s ongoing business relationship with the Nazi Regime facilitated the Holocaust via census and tabulation services. 

IBM’s German subsidiary became its most profitable overseas venture with Watson maintaining communications directly with its management. 

Watson Granted Nazi Honor By Hitler

In 1937, in Berlin, Watson Sr. was the first-ever American to receive the Nazi honor of the Order of the German Eagle from Führer Adolf Hitler. According to the New York Times coverage from 1937, Watson received his Nazi honor as a foreign national who made himself “deserving of the German Reich”.  

The “German eagle and the swastika in each corner” adorned Watson's award which was likely similar to these other versions of the German Eagle cataloged at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It was during this 1937 trip to Berlin when Watson Sr. met directly with Hitler as pictured above. 

 

Creates New “Watson Business Machines” Operations in Nazi-occupied Europe 

As Nazi Germany rolled through Europe, IBM opened new subsidiaries bearing Watson’s own name in various Nazi-occupied territories. The most notable of these “Watson Business Machines” subsidiaries, was the Polish branch which opened following the Nazi occupation of the nation.  

The Guardian reported on the findings quoting journalist Edwin Black who said that the “sole purpose [of Watson Business Machines] was to service the Nazi occupation”.

According to findings summarized by CBS, Watson Business Machines, “reported directly to the New York headquarters through the Geneva offices of International Business Machines Corp.”

Next Steps:

The Brown administration has referred the issue to President Christina Paxson’s ethics advisory committee, ACURM.  Brown’s naming standards emphasize the University’s desire to avoid potential “damage to the University reputation,” so numbers on this petition and grassroots support are crucial to the removal of Thomas J. Watson Sr.’s name. 

In the past, IBM, a supranational corporation, has taken steps to dispel concerns over Watson’s ties to Nazi Germany.  Therefore, this issue requires extensive public attention and grassroots organization to ensure success. 

Please sign this petition to show Brown that we will not tolerate our school and community honoring Nazi collaborators and those who profited off of genocide.