NEWS UPDATE: Litigation regarding forced/slave laborers

by Myroslaw Smorodsky

RUTHERFORD, N.J. - As previously reported, a settlement was reached on July 17 with German industry and government regarding payments to former forced laborers.

In accordance with the German settlement, the German Parliament on July 14 approved the creation of a German Foundation that will oversee the entire compensation program. The governing body of the foundation met in August and September, and is proceeding to initiate its activities.

The foundation has appointed the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as the official entity to collect victim data and to distribute payments to non-Jewish slave and forced laborers who reside outside Central and Eastern Europe. The IOM will also handle all property claims regardless of residence and religion.

Slave/forced labor payments to residents of Central and Eastern Europe will be processed through existing Reconciliation Foundations in those countries. Jewish slave/forced labor claimants who reside in the West will be processed through the Jewish Claims Conference. The IOM offices in each country will be responsible for distribution of claims forms and payments to victims who reside in those countries.

Once the official application forms and eligibility criteria are ready for publication, the IOM will publicize them and will contact the individuals directly. The information gathered by attorney Myroslaw Smorodsky and Brama websites is being forwarded to the IOM for integration into its database. This integration process will take about one month. The IOM will then contact these individuals directly. The deadline for submitting information to the IOM is August 11, 2001.

All inquiries by victims should now be directed to the IOM. The IOM office for the United States is located at 1752 N St. NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036; the toll-free telephone number is (866) 443-5187; fax, (202) 862-1879. The IOM website is located at http://www.iom.int and http://www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org; http://www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org the e-mail address is: srowashington@iom.int.

Additional information may also be obtained on the Internet at http://www.smorodsky.com/forcedlabor.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 19, 2000, No. 47, Vol. LXVIII

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