Germany to Compensate Nazi Slave Laborers, ‘Forgotten Victims’
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BONN — Reversing German policy, the new center-left government pledged Tuesday to set up foundations to compensate World War II slave laborers and “forgotten victims” of the Nazis.
Chancellor-elect Gerhard Schroeder said there are no concrete plans or figures for either fund.
“But we want to do something together with industry,” he said. He had scheduled a first meeting for today with bosses from Germany’s leading companies.
The German government has long insisted that it was not responsible for slave laborers.
Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, welcomed the fund for “forgotten victims,” meant to include gays, Gypsies, deserters and others persecuted by the Nazis but not covered by current law.
Since World War II, Germany has paid billions in compensation to Holocaust victims. Yet it rejected claims of back wages for slave laborers, saying the companies involved were responsible.
Most German firms, though, argued that the government, as legal successor to the Nazi regime, should be accountable.
The filing of lawsuits in the United States and threats of more at home from Nazi-era victims have prompted a reassessment.
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