Agreement on Nazi-Era Forced Labor Compensation SignedA multi-national statement was signed Monday to formalize Germany's pledge to pay 10 billion Deutsche marks in compensation to forced foreign labors in the Nazi era.The representatives of Germany, the United States, Israel and five eastern European nations as well as those of Jewish organizations and German companies signed a joint statement, finishing the one-and-a-half-year-long negotiations on the issue. The statement reaffirmed that the German government and industry will each contribute 5 billion DMs to a fund to compensate the laborers who were forced to work in German factories or concentration camps during World War II. The first part of the government's payment will be available on October 31 and the rest will be paid by the end of this year, the statement said. The document said that the interests of all former forced laborers and their descendants will be considered, regardless of their races, religions and nationalities. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |