For those who were victims of forced labor by the Nazis or by German companies during World War II, there is now a possibility of compensation. August 11, 2001 is the deadline for applying for compensation from a special fund that was created as a result of an international agreement negotiated between the United States and Germany.

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 8 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 labor as well as 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 present and future claims.

It is estimated that there are about 1 million eligible survivors, most living in Central and Eastern Europe and the United States. Survivors who were held in slave labor camps or in ghettos by the Nazis during World War II are eligible for about $7,000 each. Those who were forced to work in factories without pay are eligible for about $2,200 each. If the eligible claimant died after Feb. 15, 1999, the surviving spouse and children are entitled to file a claim.

As a Commissioner on the Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights abuses, I believe it's very important psychologically and emotionally that those who suffered as slave or forced laborers receive some sort of formal recognition of the terrible wrong that was done to them.

Several different organizations will be used to process claims. For help in filing claims, Jewish claimants in the Baltimore area should first contact Jewish Family Services at 410-542-6300 or 410-466-9200. Jewish claims will be processed by 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., Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036, toll-free number: 1-866-443-5187. Web site: www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org