Second List of German Firms That Used Slave and Forced Labor During the Nazi Era Issued

American Jewish Committee
Thursday, 27 January 2000

The American Jewish Committee released today its second list of German companies that used slave and forced labor during the Nazi regime.

The list of 150 firms brings the total number of German firms identified by the American Jewish Committee to over 400.

"This new list is further evidence of Germany's blanket use of slave and forced labor during World War II," said Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee's Berlin Office. "It is time for all German companies founded before World War II to examine their company history, accept moral responsibility, and join the compensation fund."

More than 50 companies on AJC's initial list of 257 firms, issued on December 7, 1999, have joined the general compensation fund established by German industry and the German government.

According to media reports in Germany, the U.S. and England, the list played a key role in jump-starting the stalemated compensation negotiations. Ten days after the list was issued, negotiators agreed on a fund totaling $5.2 billion dollars.

The money will come in equal shares from the German government and German industry. However, representatives of German industry say they have collected less than half the sum they have pledged toward the fund because too few companies have joined.

"No one needs an invitation to join this fund," said Ms. Berger. "It is hard to understand that companies continue to dodge their history while survivors are dying every day."

AJC's second list of companies has two portions. One part continues the research that began with the initial list, updating information collected by the International Tracing Service during and after World War II on firms that used slave and forced labor. The information is available in the book "Das Nationalsozialistiche Lagersystem" (Frankfurt, Verlag Zweitausendeins, 1990, Hrsg. Martin Weinmann).

The second part focuses on companies based in Berlin, where more than 1,000 work camps for slave laborers were active. This part, prepared by researchers at Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt, a local history center, was based on a list collected by Berlin historian Dr. Rainer Kubatzki, who had compiled names of companies in Berlin that built barracks for foreign workers during the Nazi era.

The new AJC list also includes Munich-based companies researched by one of that city's archivists.

German historians estimate that of the thousands of companies that used forced and slave labor, more than 500 are still in operation. In addition, municipalities and state enterprises used large numbers of forced laborers. Tradesmen and farmers in Germany also used forced labor.

"The slave and forced labor system took place on German soil, under the eyes of tens of millions of ordinary Germans," said Ms. Berger. "Millions of people were subjected to extraordinarily harsh and often deadly work conditions for the profit of German industry and the Nazi war effort."

The AJC supports the call of German industry for all companies to join the fund, regardless of their history. Historians of the era agree that the postwar economic miracle of German industry was based in large part on the widespread use of forced labor during the war.

The AJC information on the historical role of companies during the Nazi era has sparked new research on the subject. Hundreds of media reports following up on the list have appeared since it was issued in December.

Still, the historical record is far from complete.

"We strongly urge the German government and German industry to create a central data bank for such information," said Ms. Berger. "The overwhelming interest in our list from all negotiating parties has shown that such research is an essential component of a compensation fund."

The American Jewish Committee has called on the Bundestag for speedy passage of legislation establishing the compensation fund that is as comprehensive as possible. "Excluding some victims and making deductions from payments to others is not the way to settle the accounts of the past," said Ms. Berger.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org