IBM and the Holocaust was released in nine languages and forty countries on a single day, February 12, 2001. Not all those editions are identical. There are minor differences. During the months leading up to production, I distributed a sequence of seventeen last minute "manuscript fixes." These conveyed subtle tweaks (such as "occupied Poland" instead of "Poland" to describe that country during the war), the latest updated detail on Hollerith usage emerging from continued research, and of course several typos, especially in the more than 1200 endnotes. However, each publisher was constrained by its own production lead time. Consequently, some publishers stopped adopting manuscript fixes and updates as early as Fix5. The British, German and Polish editions were the last to be published, and they incorporated nearly all fixes.

In addition, each country adheres to its own publishing traditions, especially with regards to format and graphics. Several countries elected to include numerous documents and photographs, often localized to their readership. Among those with the broadest selection of graphics are the German, Portuguese and French editions.

Some countries used their own endnote numbering system and index preferences.

The originating publisher, Crown Publishing in New York, also simultaneously created a large print edition, and working with Random House Audio, created immediate editions in audio tape, CD-ROM and MP3 downloadable versions. The large print edition is unabridged and includes all endnotes. The electronic versions are abridged and of course offer no notes.

The Three Rivers paperback edition in the United States includes all the most up-to-date tweaks, research, and the Afterward and a special Commentary. So do the other paperbacks, and most of newest reprintings which are issued in other countries, as do the new Japanese, Hungarian and other foreign first editions.

Translation on sensitive topics is always a challenge for international consistency, The project enjoyed some of the most skilled and knowledgeable translators in publishing. But there are differences between foreign editions. Not all words, especially ethnic or Nazified terminology, exist in all cultures and languages. I must note that in one country, the word "persecution," referring to the Middle Ages was mistranslated as "pogrom." And when I wrote that those who attended the Wannsee Conference "relied in many ways" on Hollerith experts who did not attend, the translation in one country inadvertently could be read to imply that these men actually did attend. Both those isolated mistranslations have been corrected.

New evidence comes in every day. As the fruits of new research continues to emerge, I hope to ensure that the books in all countries include all the latest developments.

 

Copyright © 1999 - 2003  by Edwin Black All Rights Reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be used in any form or by any means--graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems--without the written permission of the publisher.