December 14, 1999
Web posted at: 9:36 p.m. EST (0236 GMT)

In this story: German government increases contribution Talks had lasted more than a year RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

BERLIN (CNN) -- A deal has been struck to compensate surviving victims of Nazi-era forced- and slave labor from a fund totaling $5.2 billion that will include $2.6 billion contributed by the German government, attorneys for parties in the talks say.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Germany today

It is estimated that between 1.5 million and 2.3 million people who were forced to work in factories for the Hitler war machine will be able to claim the funds.

Payments could begin next summer. Attorneys for victims' groups said the deal would be formally announced in a few days.

The agreement was reached after the German government said it would raise its $1.6 billion offer, augmenting $2.6 billion already pledged by industry.

The deal matches demands made by lawyers earlier this week, including the establishment of a $520 million fund by U.S. companies that had German operations during the war, attorney Michael Hausfeld said.

Many German companies used forced laborers to keep the Nazi war machine running while concentration camp inmates were also literally worked to death as slave laborers.

Diedre Berger, with the American Jewish Committee, said of the forced laborers, "The conditions were hard, they were very strenuous and it was not a pleasant experience for any of them, but they were not being worked to kill (as in the death camps) and that's why distinction will be made when payments are made to the victims."

U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat's office was the go-between for the negotiations between survivors and German industry and government.

Negotiations had dragged on for more than a year, with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder intervening several times in attempts to get parties to agree on a settlement. Lawyers had at one point in the talks demanded more than $20 billion, while the German side was offering less than $2 billion.

Once signed, the deal will mark the end of often acrimonious negotiations launched after a group of 12 firms, prompted by class action suits against them, announced they would set up the fund. Some 70 firms are now participating in the fund.

In exchange for creating the fund, the companies will receive legal protection from lawsuits in the United States.

Berlin Bureau Chief Chris Burns, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.