AJC To Continue Compiling Names Of Companies That Used Slave Labor And Forced Labor

American Jewish Committee
Thursday, 30 December 1999

The American Jewish Committee announced today that it is continuing to uncover companies that used slave labor and forced labor during the Nazi era and are still in operation today.

"Thousands of companies under the Hitler regime employed slave and forced laborers, who worked against their will. Hundreds of them are still in operation and it is a matter of historical record to state publicly as many of those names as possible," said Deidre Berger, managing director of the AJC Berlin Office.

On December 7, 1999, the American Jewish Committee issued an initial list of 257 companies with legal, historical or financial ties to firms that used slave or forced labor during the Nazi era. Since the list was made public, more than 30 firms on the list have joined the German industry's central compensation fund for slave and forced labor survivors. Before publication of the AJC list, only 24 firms had agreed to participate in the fund.

Following the release of the AJC list, the most extensive compilation to date of firms that used slave and forced labor, the German media devoted considerable attention to the issue. Articles in national and local newspapers have examined the roles of dozens of companies in the forced labor system. Some of the companies surveyed said they have started reviewing internal company archives on the issue.

Corporate spokespersons frequently have cited an array of arguments against joining the fund. These include reasons such as their legal status as a subsidiary or new corporation, gaps in company history, lack of claims filed against the company, a relatively small number of forced laborers employed during the Nazi era, or slightly better treatment of laborers than in other companies.

"Such arguments in no way diminish the basic injustice suffered by the victims," said AJC President Bruce M. Ramer. "Those who collaborated with the system of forced labor helped prolong WWII, which caused additional suffering and the deaths of many innocent civilians. Most CEOs today had no personal involvement with the Nazi system but there is nothing to prevent them from acknowledging responsibility for their company's history."

Historians estimate that at least 500 to 600 companies currently operating in Germany used slave labor and forced labor during the Nazi era. So far, about a hundred of those companies have pledged to join the fund, according to fund coordinators at Daimler-Chrysler in Stuttgart, about half of them on an anonymous basis.

In addition to stimulating journalistic investigations, the AJC list has prompted increased political activity across Germany regarding slave and forced labor. The national leadership of the Green party sent a letter to all companies on the AJC list urging them to join the fund. A number of city councils passed resolutions appealing to companies in their areas to join the fund. Several municipalities have voted to contribute money to the fund. Articles in newspapers in the U.S., England and Germany credited the AJC list in bringing about a settlement of the negotiating parties on the compensation issue.

Earlier this month, AJC Executive Director David A. Harris appealed to the German Bundestag to move expeditiously to pass legislation to create the fund and to set up a mechanism for distribution of payments that is as comprehensive as possible. "The biological clock continues to tick," Mr. Harris said.

The AJC also favors the establishment of a "Future Fund" that has been proposed by representatives of the general compensation fund to provide for additional research and education for future generations on the issue of slave labor and forced labor. When a central clearinghouse for research is established, the AJC will provide its information to researchers.

The list of companies issued by AJC, even with the additions expected to be made early next year, will only provide a partial survey of companies that used slave labor and forced labor. A complete list will only be possible when a central research office begins coordinating all available information. Access to company archives is also necessary to correct existing sources of historical information.

The major source of information that exists is Das nationalsozialistische Lagersystem (Verlag Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt, 1990), a reissue of a book first published in 1949. The information was collected by members of the International Tracing Service during WWII and in the postwar years by compiling archive material and speaking with witnesses.

Due to the turbulence of those years, however, there may be errors in this material. As a result, AJC erroneously included in its list a few companies. Upon learning of the errors, AJC immediately sent apologies to the companies and removed them from the list, which was posted to AJC's web site.

Overall, the project triggered an enormous echo in the German public sphere.

"We are thrilled that we could make a contribution to a more careful examination of this chapter of German history," said Ms. Berger. "The hundreds of calls we have received the past few weeks in response to our list proves the tremendous interest in Germany in learning more about this subject and confronting the country's history in time to help the remaining survivors."

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