Hurdle Cleared to Nazi-Era Labor Fund
U.S. and German negotiators Monday cleared a major obstacle to setting up a $4.9-billion fund to compensate more than 1 million people whom the Nazis forced to work during World War II.
The deal, clinched in a 10-hour session in Washington, provides substantial assurance that U.S. courts will dismiss lawsuits against German companies from former slave and forced laborers seeking reparations.
It lays out the arrangements for what the negotiators call “legal peace” for the German companies, but it now requires approval by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, individual German companies, the German Parliament and the class-action trial lawyers who have already filed suits for compensation.
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