Rep. Cardin Announces Those Who Were Used For Forced Labor By The Nazis May Be Eligible For Compensation

WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin announced today that under a new German Forced Labour Compensation Law, those who were used as slave or forced laborers by the Nazis or by German companies during World War II are now entitled to claim financial compensation. The deadline to file a claim is Aug. 11, 2001.

Last summer, the German government and German industry agreed to a historic $5 billion compensation agreement to help compensate former slave and forced laborers and certain other victims of Nazi injustice. During World War II, the Nazi regime subjected more than eight million people to forced or slave labor. Most of the victims were from present-day Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belarus and Russia. Typically, they were deported from their homes to Germany or German-occupied areas.

The financial compensation agreement resulted from numerous lawsuits that had been filed seeking compensation for forced/slave laborers as well as for other Holocaust- related claims. These suits named specific German corporations such as Daimler-Chrysler, Bayer, and BMW among others. In February 1999, a number of German industries announced they would undertake a voluntary initiative to settle all potential present and future claims.

"I think its psychologically and emotionally important that those who suffered as slave or forced laborers receive some sort of formal acknowledgment of what happened to them. It's important that the German government and German companies publicly admit what they did to their victims. But no payment can ever adequately compensate those who were victimized by such atrocities," said Rep. Cardin, a Commissioner on the Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights abuses.

More than one million former laborers worldwide are expected to be be eligible for compensation. Several different organizations will be used to process claims. Jewish claimants should contact the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, 15 E. 26th St., Room 906, New York, NY 10010. Phone: 212-696-4944. Web site: www.claimscon.org

Non-Jewish claimants should contact the Organization for Migration, 1752 N. St., N.W. Ste. 700, Washington, D.C. 20036, toll-free number: 1-866-443-5187. Web site: www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org