Glossary-Detail

At the end of the 1990s, former forced labourers filed class actions against German companies. This led to increased public debate in Germany on the issue of compensation for forced labourers. After a long debate, the German government and some large companies that had employed forced labourers paid 10.1 billion DM into a fund from which compensation payments were to be made to individuals. The Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft / EVZ) was set up in 2000 to organise the payments. More than 1.66 million people in almost 100 countries have received a total of 4.4 billion euros. But most of the former forced labourers had died by the time the foundation was set up. In addition, the former forced labourers had to produce documents to prove that they had worked as forced labourers. Many were unable to do so. The disbursement of funds stopped in 2007. Today, the Foundation supports projects that deal with the reappraisal of Nazi injustices.