The extensive measures taken to destroy a people are facilitated by a complex matrix of interrelated actors and practices, yet there remains an underdeveloped implication of accounting in the wider moral and political imperatives. The purpose of this article is to introduce a thanatopolitical visualisation of accounting history adapted from the work of Giorgio Agamben and Michel Foucault. The theoretical triptych implicates business and accounting in the State-sanctioned financial, political and actual deaths of people. Through reference to Nazi Germany (1933–1945) and the companies Deutsche Bank and Ford Werke, the utility of the theoretical device is illustrated, and silences in accounting are given exposure through alternative accounts. Adopting a close-reading method, the peripheral yet integral role of accounting helped conceal the human cost of thanatopolitical ideology. Beyond the Holocaust example, this triptych is relevant for the exploration of other instances of thanatopolitics, such as war, natural disasters and pandemics.

相互关联的行为者和实践的复杂矩阵促进了为摧毁人民而采取的广泛措施，但会计在更广泛的道德和政治势力中仍未得到充分的发展。本文的目的是根据Giorgio Agamben和Michel Foucault的工作介绍会计历史的全面政治可视化。理论上的三联画将商业和会计牵连到国家批准的人员的财务，政治和实际死亡中。通过参考纳粹德国（1933-1945）和德意志银行和福特·沃克公司，说明了该理论工具的效用，并通过替代性帐户暴露了会计的沉默。采用近距离阅读方法，会计的外围但不可或缺的作用帮助掩盖了超越政治意识形态的人为成本。除了大屠杀的例子以外，这个三联画还与探索政治以外的其他情况有关，例如战争，自然灾害和流行病。