DaimlerChrysler Welcomes Successful Conclusion to Negotiations On Payments for Former Forced Laborers
20 December 1999
DaimlerChrysler Welcomes Successful Conclusion to Negotiations On Payments for Former Forced LaborersDaimlerChrysler a founding member of foundation initiative of German Economy
Positive outcome for victims
Call for additional companies to participate
STUTTGART, Germany, Dec. 17 -- DaimlerChrysler ,
co-founder of the foundation initiative of German economy, welcomes the
compromise on humanitarian assistance for former forced laborers and other
victims of the Nazi regime, which was reached after difficult negotiations.
The agreement will help many surviving victims forced to work to support the
Nazi war machine.
As a founding member of the initiative of German economy "Responsibility,
Remembrance and the Future", DaimlerChrysler and in particular, Dr. Manfred
Gentz, its representative in the issue, supported the idea of a gesture of
moral responsibility toward former forced laborers from the very beginning.
DaimlerChrysler Chairman Juergen Schrempp, "I want to thank my colleague
Manfred Gentz for his tremendous involvement in these negotiations. He played
a decisive role in making this resolution for the surviving forced laborers
possible."
"It was very important to us to get help to the victims quickly and
unbureaucratically. And that can best be achieved by this initiative", said
DaimlerChrysler Board of Management member Dr. Manfred Gentz. "We are
extremely pleased that after months of effort, an agreement has finally been
reached that will benefit the victims."
Gentz also called upon other German companies which have yet to join the
initiative to do their part as well. He described such involvement as a
"moral obligation".
DaimlerChrysler has long accepted its historical responsibility
The former Daimler-Benz AG and current DaimlerChrysler AG was one of the
first large German companies to accept its historical responsibility and take
a critical look at its activities under the Nazi regime. The subject of
forced labor is, of course, an important issue in this respect. The following
chronology presents the company's progress from its first intensive dealings
with the issue to the recent establishment of the humanitarian reconciliation
fund:
1983 to 1984
The former Daimler-Benz AG opens its archives to historical research. The
opening of the archives is followed by celebrations marking the 100th
anniversary of the automobile, which Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz developed
simultaneously in 1886, but independently of one another. The occasion
focuses the company's attention on its past. In particular, the company
realizes that its activities during the Nazi dictatorship from 1933 to 1945
have not been sufficiently researched.
1986
The documentary volume, "Daimler-Benz AG in the years 1933 to 1945," by
Hans Pohl and Wilhelm Treue, is published by the Steiner Verlag. The Daimler-
Benz AG Board of Management decides that the company should establish its own
research project on the issue of forced labor.
1987
A large research project gets under way. Four scholars not only comb
through written records in Germany and abroad but also conduct approximately
270 interviews with former forced laborers in Eastern Europe, the United
States and Israel. All interviews are documented and archived.
1988
Daimler-Benz AG provides millions of dollars worth of humanitarian
assistance to organizations which care for former forced laborers. These
organizations are the German Red Cross, the Conference on Jewish Claims
Against Germany and the Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk, which is particularly active in
Poland. More than $15 million has been donated to these organizations to
date.
1989
Daimler-Benz invites former forced laborers, with whom contact had been
established through the aforementioned interviews, to visit the plants at
which they were forced to work during the Nazi dictatorship. Several hundred
former forced laborers accept this invitation and visit the plants, often
accompanied by members of their families. The visits result in cordial,
personal relationships which remain active to this day.
1994
The book, "Forced Labor at Daimler-Benz," edited by Hans Pohl, is
published by the Steiner Verlag. The contributors are Barbara Hopmann, Mark
Spoerer, Birgit Weitz and Beate Bruninghaus.
1998
Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart, and Chrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills,
Michigan, merge on November 17, 1998 to become DaimlerChrysler AG. More than
half of the company's shareholders reside outside of Germany.
1999
DaimlerChrysler and 15 other large German companies join together to
create the foundation initiative of German economy "Remembrance,
Responsibility and the Future." The initiative is an attempt on the part of
the companies to face up to their historical responsibility and acknowledge
their respect to former forced laborers at the end of the century through a
humanitarian gesture of reconciliation.
