Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Nazi slave laborers fear fund delays German companies slow to contribute share, Czechs say By Kate Swoger A day can be a long time when you are waiting for long-overdue reparations. In the Czech Republic alone, there are some 70,000 people who were forced to work without pay under the Nazi regime and survived the war and have lived on for more than 55 years. Which each passing day, approximately 15 of them die without ever having received compensation for their forced labor. Jiri Sitler, who led the negotiations on a compensation deal for the Czech victims of Nazism hammered out with Germany last summer, is growing impatient with delays in setting up the reparations fund. Sitler is particularly concerned because although the German government has paid its required DM 5 billion (88 billion Kc/$2.3 billion) into the fund, German corporations -- including such Goliaths as Volkswagen and Siemens -- have yet to contribute the DM 5 billion they pledged to the plan. Compensation info Aug. 12, 2000 -- Germany's Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future foundation is established. April 11, 2001 -- The deadline for applications for compensation through the fund. Heirs are eligible to apply, if the eligible victim died after Feb. 15, 1999. Compensation information is available in Czech and German on the Web site of the Czech-German Fund for the Future at www.fondbudoucnosti.cz/welcome.htm Information is in English at www.claimscon.org/compensation/agreement.html "They haven't paid a single penny," he said. "The companies say, 'We will pay when we want,' ... and that makes us a bit worried." Meanwhile, corporate officials insist they are not obliged to make their contribution until all outstanding lawsuits -- including several in the United States -- are set aside and the risk of liability eliminated. "The law says the money goes in when legal peace has been established," said Katja Raetzke, a spokeswoman for the German companies. "I don't know how long that will be." She added that the more than 5,000 corporations taking part in the compensation plan have amassed, but not deposited, DM 3.6 billion of their required DM 5 billion for the fund. The companies include automakers DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen, Krupp steelworks, Siemens electronics and Allianz insurance. Those who have been waiting decades to be compensated were hopeful last summer when several years of negotiations were wrapped up and the compensation plan was finalized. A six-month window was established for receiving applications for compensation at that time. Under the plan, those who were forced to labor in concentration camps are eligible for up to DM 15,000 compensation; those who were forced to labor under other conditions are eligible for up to DM 5,000 compensation. Others who suffered personal injury under Nazism, such as those who were subjected to medical experiments or had forced abortions, can also apply for compensation through the fund. The Czech-German Fund for the Future, which processes applications for Czech citizens and residents, has also been given a portion of the fund with which to compensate others persecuted by the Nazis. Because elderly survivors have little time left to access the money, the German companies' explanations are simply not enough for Sitler. "There is no money from them in the fund, so if the cases are dismissed, there is only the German government's money," he said. "It's not a moral question. It's just a question of fulfilling agreements." Representatives of the victims of Nazism from the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus met in Warsaw Feb. 23 to plan their next move in their struggle to get the corporations' compensation money into the fund. They plan to continue putting political pressure on the German companies through diplomatic and political channels, Sitler said. Their hope is to impress upon the companies the serious consequences of each day of delay. Seven thousand Czech forced laborers died last year, Sitler pointed out, adding: "Time is really important." -- With wire reports Kate Swoger's e-mail address is kswoger@praguepost.cz