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VW to pay slave laborers
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July 7, 1998: 10:19 a.m. ET
Europe's leading carmaker sets up fund to compensate WWII forced laborers
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Seeking to atone for a dark period of its past, Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest automaker, said Tuesday it plans to establish a private fund as part of a "humanitarian effort" to compensate slave laborers dragooned into the company's workforce during World War II.
In a brief statement issued from its corporate headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, VW said its board of management decided to set up the fund "in recognition of (Volkswagen's) historical and moral responsibilities arising from the use of forced labor" in 1944 and 1945 "and goes beyond previous activities."
An undisclosed number of forced laborers worked at Volkswagenwerk GmbH in Wolfsburg during those years, as the German war machine fought to stave off imminent defeat at the hands of the Allied powers. Many German companies have belatedly acknowledged their complicity in the Nazi war effort.
Volkswagen portrayed the move as part of an on-going effort to make amends with history. The company noted in the statement that it has "repeatedly" contributed to organizations and charities in the past.
VW did not release details about the size of the fund or about the selection process for prospective recipients of compensation. The company said it will announce details of the policy in mid-September.
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Volkswagen
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