IBM faces Gypsy holocaust suit

Quote:

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A Swiss court has cleared the way for a group of Gypsies to sue computer giant IBM for allegedly helping Nazi slaughter campaigns during World War II, the plaintiffs' lawyer said on Tuesday. Lawyer Henri-Philippe Sambuc said an appeals court had overturned an earlier lower court ruling that Geneva had no jurisdiction to hear the test case that could eventually lead to a wider $12 billion claim against IBM.

The case claims that IBM facilitated the mass slaughter of Gypsies by knowingly allowing Nazi Germany to use its punch-card Hollerith tabulating machines--the mainframe computer of its era--to track and identify victims. Sambuc said the five plaintiffs, all of whom lost family members in death camps in the 1939-1945 period when Nazis killed an estimated 6 million Jews and 600,000 Gypsies in Europe, would claim $20,000 each from IBM for the alleged wrongdoing. IBM spokesman John Bukovinsky said

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Source : http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1104_2-5243858.html

That's just sad... what's next? Sueing Volkswagen for being a "nazi"-car? Or Ford because Henry Ford used his car dealerships to circulate an anti-Semitic pamphlet ("The International Jew" - Hitler later quoted passages from it for Mein Kampf) and investing in German automaking, profiting from slave labor during the Holocaust? Confiscate Paul Getty's belongings because he referred to Hitler as "an old friend"?

This is interesting. If successful a lot of companies can be sued and it's ridiculous to point a finger at a company because a person "chose" to use something they make or in this case made, to construct evil. A lot of companies are still around, for instance you won't see many old school Jews driving a Volkwagon. And while on the subject BMW was active in concentration camps, and let's tally them eh? : Messerschmit, AGFA, Shell, Seimens (got to dump all those routers, cell phones etc.), Daimller Benz (That makes most cars out there), Ornier, Ford (yes Ford is big over in Euro for the Americans), Krupp (coffe makers etc), ASTRA to name some big ones who were affiliated with supplying some service to conentration camps. Ford can be linked, according to Jewish Federations to Buchenwald and Dora-Mittelbau
and Cologne Fordwerke. While not directly involved in killing Jews, they were put to work there in camp style.

I hope we as a world order do not start holding companies responsible. If you want to go after those who helped in person like maybe the programmer or head IBM architect at the time then ok. But a company who supplied war materials when the earth and Europe was much different? Hell if that is the case and a taste of revenge is needed, sue the German government and her people then. (sarcasm)


//edit Posted at the same as Negative, OMG we agree on something else... what is that like 5 things now? ;)

I guess that means they are going to go throught all the invoices to see who made what for the different extermination camps. It is going to be a long list.

Yeah some old man and his company will be sued for supplying the plumbing or steel used in constucting the camps were actual extermination was conducted. It's total BS and I am very sensitive to what happened and I think is BS.