Hundreds of thousands of people who were forced to work as slaves by the Nazis could receive compensation within the next six months, following an agreement between Germany and the US signed in Berlin yesterday. More than half a century after the end of the second World War, the German government and some of the country's biggest firms have agreed to contribute DM10 billion (£4.2 billion) to a compensation fund to benefit an estimated 2.3 million survivors.
President Johannes Rau of Germany said he was "relieved" that the deal had finally been sealed after months of wrangling over the size of the fund and urged contributors to ensure that payments will be made swiftly.
"We all know that victims of crimes cannot really be compensated with money. So it is all the more important that all survivors now receive the humanitarian aid agreed today as soon as possible," he said.
Almost 70 German firms, including Siemens, Volkswagen, Daimler-Chrysler and Hoechst, agreed to compensate former forced labourers after they were threatened with lawsuits in the US. But yesterday's deal was made possible only when the Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, offered to match the DM5 billion offered by the industries.
The prime ministers of Germany's 16 federal states have so far refused to contribute towards the government's share of the cost, which may be met by privatising state assets. But Mr Schroder played down such difficulties yesterday as he hailed the deal as an important step in Germany's coming to terms with its past.
"The final goal of helping the victims should not be undermined by arguments," he said.
Among the first to benefit from the fund are an estimated 230,000 former slave labourers, mostly Jews, who were put to work in concentration camps, ghettos and prison camps. These survivors, whom the Nazis planned to work to death, will receive about DM15,000 each.
Forced labourers who were deported to Germany and put to work in factories but were not earmarked as victims of genocide, will receive about DM6,000. Former farm labourers will receive a smaller sum and the fund will also benefit some people whose health was damaged by Nazi actions.
The US has agreed to protect firms that contribute to the fund from litigation taken on behalf of victims and Mr Schroder urged more German firms to join the fund. A former Social Democrat candidate for chancellor, Mr Hans-Jochen Vogel, suggested that German consumers should boycott companies that refuse to contribute.
The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, who was in Berlin for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight, praised all those involved in agreeing to the deal. "They have done the right thing and acted with great dignity. This agreement will take US-German relations to new heights in the new millennium," she said.
Mr Rau struck a more sombre note, acknowledging that the agreement had come too late for millions of people who lost their lives under the Nazis. "I remember today all those who had to work as slaves or forced labourers under German rule and ask for forgiveness in the name of the German people. We will not forget your suffering."
