American Jewish Committee Calls On 117 German Firms To Join Proposed Slave Laborer Compensation Fund

American Jewish Committee
Monday, 27 September 1999

The American Jewish Committee today announced that it has called on 117 German companies to join a proposed foundation for former slave and forced laborers.

"We applaud the initiative of the German government and 16 German firms for proposing a central compensation fund," said Bruce Ramer, president of the American Jewish Committee. "The greater the number of companies that join the fund, the faster a settlement can be reached."

Initially, the German government set a target date for this month to close negotiations on the fund and begin payments. But, as the AJC emphasizes in letters sent to 117 German firms, "a major reason that the negotiations on this issue have proceeded haltingly in past weeks is the relatively small number of companies willing to contribute to the fund."

The letters, signed by Mr. Ramer and AJC Executive Director David A. Harris, also point out that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the firms committed to the fund consider compensation a moral, historical and political responsibility for the whole of German industry. In July, the German government announced plans to establish a federal foundation to compensate forced laborers who worked in agriculture or for state enterprises during World War II.

Most major German companies during the war employed forced laborers. Some also used slave laborers taken from concentration camps. Tens of thousands of people died during their involuntary servitude due to the grueling labor conditions. Many of those who survived suffer decades later from health problems.

"With the survivors now in their 70s and 80s, there is little time left to discuss this situation," said Eugene DuBow, managing director of the AJC Berlin Office. "Compensation would help ease the physical afflictions of the survivors and provide them with a sense of justice."

The AJC also urges Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to respect the declaration of intention he made in August for German government participation in the fund.

In the letter to the German firms, the AJC cautions that "Germany's failure to establish a central compensation fund for former slave and forced laborers will cast a dark shadow on German-American relations as well as on German-Jewish ties."

The American Jewish Committee, founded in 1906, fights bigotry and promotes human rights and democratic values. The AJC, which has been involved in continuous dialogue on German-Jewish relations for the past five decades, is the only American Jewish membership organization to maintain an office in Germany.

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