Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Forced laborers finally get cash Wartime victims begin collecting German funds By Kate Swoger Karel Horak spent what he calls the best years of his life working for the Nazis against his will. Last week, almost 60 years after being taken from his home in Prague and forced to work at a factory in Saxony, Horak, 80, picked up a first payment of 64,820 Kc ($1,600) to compensate him for his wartime suffering. "It's a month's salary for a qualified worker in Germany," he said. "It is a ridiculous amount for 32 months of forced labor." Horak worked as a translator and accountant. "It is only moral satisfaction that I feel, nothing more." Horak is one of thousands of Czechs who, after years of patience and negotiation, have begun receiving compensation payments from Berlin for enduring forced or slave labor during World War II. The payments are part of a global settlement from the German government and German businesses in an effort to make amends to those coerced under the Nazi regime. Of the 10 billion DM fund ($4.3 billion/173 billion Kc), 423 million DM has been earmarked to reward the estimated 100,000 survivors in the Czech Republic. Concentration camp survivors and some of the older victims, like Horak, are among the first to receive compensation. They began collecting 75 percent of their payments at post offices in mid-June, using vouchers sent by Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, the bank charged with processing the funds. The remaining 25 percent will be paid out in the coming months. Others expect to see their money arrive by the end of the summer. "This day brings a moment we can call historic," said Foreign Minister Jan Kavan as the payments were posted to the 10,000 survivors in the first wave of recipients. The compensation fund was created two years ago, but payments have been held up by legal disputes. Germany released the funds earlier this month, when a U.S. federal court dismissed the remaining suits pending against the German government and businesses. Judge Shirley Kram made the ruling after contingency money was set aside for victims who had not yet come forward. "[The survivors] are very glad the waiting is finally over, but we have to say it is too late. It's been almost 60 years [since the war]. Most of the victims have died," said Jiri Hampl of the Czech Freedom Fighters Association. "But I guess it's better late than never, as they say," he added. Those who survived concentration camps are eligible for 15,000 DM in compensation, while those who labored under other conditions will receive 5,000 DM payments. Those who suffered personal injury under Nazism can also apply for funds. Second wave Karel Ruzicka of the Association of Forced Laborers said his experiences during the war were much less harsh than for most of his group's 68,000 members. Ruzicka, one of about 650,000 Czechs removed from their homes and forced to work for the Nazis during the war, spent almost a year doing manual labor in Germany. He worked for Junkeswerke Flugzeugwerke Magdeburg, then one of the largest German aircraft manufacturers, until the plant was destroyed. He was then moved to Nordhausen, where V1 rockets destined to be fired at London were produced. Compensation by the numbers What: Compensation for forced or slave laborers under the Nazi regime. When: First payments sent out June 19. Who: First wave of recipients include 2,434 who labored in concentration camps and 7,566 elderly victims. Survivors: In total, 84,000 Czech survivors or their families have applied. Payments: Former inmates of concentration camps are eligible for 15,000 DM ($6,500/261,000 Kc). Other laborers can receive 5,000 DM ($2,100/87,000 Kc). He will be part of the second compensation wave and expects to see his payment sometime this summer. Like Horak, Ruzicka considers the money a gesture of conscience that cannot make up for what he and others endured during the war. "Nothing can compensate for the lost years of former forced laborers," he said. So far, 84,000 Czechs or their families have applied for compensation. Hundreds more apply each day, according to the ministry of foreign affairs. With the German government planning to extend the application deadline from Aug. 11 to Dec. 31, officials expect the total to reach 100,000. Officials estimate that there are more than 1 million former forced and slave laborers worldwide, most of them living in Central and Eastern Europe. But thousands already have died, and Ruzicka estimates that thousands more will die before the second installment of payments arrives. "In those cases, the payments will go to relatives and that isn't the purpose," he said. "The compensation is meant for people who were victims of injustice." -- Jakub Sverak contributed to this report. Kate Swoger's e-mail address is kswoger@praguepost.cz