The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001.  Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date.  This site is not updated so external links may no longer function.  Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

Annex A of the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future" Berlin, Germany, July 17, 2000

Principles Governing the Operation of the Foundation

Article 1(3) of the Agreement provides that the principles governing the operation of the Foundation will be set forth in Annex A. This Annex reflects key elements of the Foundation that form a basis for the Parties' mutual commitments in the Agreement.

1. The Foundation legislation will state that the purpose of the Foundation is to make payments through partner organizations to those who suffered as private and public sector forced or slave laborers and those who suffered at the hands of German companies during the National Socialist era and to establish a "Remembrance and Future Fund" within the Foundation. It will state that the permanent task of the "Remembrance and Future Fund" is to support projects that (a) serve to promote understanding between nations, and serve social justice and international cooperation in the humanitarian sector; (b) support youth exchange programs and keep alive the memory of the Holocaust and the threat posed by totalitarian, unlawful regimes and tyranny; and (c) also benefit the heirs of those who have not survived.

2. The Foundation legislation will provide for a Board of Trustees that consists of an equal number of members appointed by the German Government and German companies and by other governments and victims' representatives, except that the Chairman shall be a person of international stature appointed by the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Board may be reduced in size after four years, but the balance of the membership will continue, to the extent appropriate. The Board will adopt by-laws by a two-thirds majority vote. All Foundation operations will be transparent and by-laws and similar procedures will be made public.

3. The Foundation legislation will provide that the Foundation will be audited by the Federal Accounting Office and that all partner organizations will also be audited.

4. The Foundation legislation will provide that persons who were held in concentration camps as defined under the Federal Compensation Law ("BEG") or in another place of confinement or ghetto under comparable conditions and were subject to forced labor ("slave laborers") will be eligible to receive up to DM 15,000 each. The Foundation legislation will also provide that persons who were deported from their homelands into the territory of the 1937 borders of the German Reich or to a German-occupied area, and were held in prison-like or extremely harsh living conditions ("forced laborers") not covered by the above definition will be eligible to receive up to DM 5,000 each. In addition, from the allocated funds to make payments to forced laborers, partner organizations will be authorized to make payments to others who were forced to work during the National Socialist era. These other forced laborers will receive up to DM 5,000 each. The eligibility of all laborers covered by the Foundation will be limited to survivors and heirs, as defined under paragraph 8, of those who died after February 15, 1999. In addition, victims of "other non-labor personal injury wrongs," including, but not limited to, medical experimentation and Kinderheim cases, will be eligible to receive payments, within the limits of the amount allocated for that purpose. Victims of medical experimentation and Kinderheim cases are given priority over other non-labor personal injury wrongs. The eligbility of a victim to receive benefits for all "other non-labor personal injury wrongs" will not be affected by whether or not he or she also receives benefits for forced labor. The funds allocated for "other non-labor personal injury wrongs" will constitute a separate allocation. The partner organizations will receive, review, and process applications for payments from the amount allocated for "other personal injury." At the request of a partner organization, the property committee referred to in paragraph 11 will appoint an independent arbitrator to review and process applications to the particular partner organization. The amount allocated will be distributed to each partner organization so that each approved applicant is provided a pro-rata amount of the total amount for all approved "other personal injury" applicants. The decisions of the partner organizations and any arbitrator that may be appointed will be based on uniform standards approved by the Board of Trustees. The Foundation legislation will provide that any costs associated with reviewing and processing applications, including those associated with an arbitrator (if selected), will be drawn from the allocations for each partner organization. Excess amounts in the labor category allocated to any partner organization under the distribution plan annexed to the Joint Statement will be reallocated to labor, with the aim of reaching equal levels of payments to former slave and forced laborers wherever they reside. The Board of Trustees will be entitled to authorize payments above per capita ceilings should circumstances warrant.

5. The Foundation legislation will provide that a slave or forced laborer will not be able to receive payments for the same injury or wrong from both the Foundation and the Austrian Foundation for Reconciliation, Peace and Cooperation.

6. The Foundation legislation will provide that persons who suffered loss of or damage to property during the National Socialist era as a result of racial persecution directly caused by German companies are eligible to recover under the payment system set forth in paragraph 11. The eligibility of such persons will be limited to those who could not receive any payment under the BEG or Federal Restitution Law ("BRueckG") because they did not meet the residency requirement or could not file their claims by the deadline because they lived under a government with which the Federal Republic of Germany did not have diplomatic relations, those whose claims were rejected under the BEG or BRueckG where legal proof became available only after the reunification of the Federal Republic of Germany, provided the claims were not covered by post-reunification restitution or compensation legislation, and those whose racially-motivated property claims concerning moveable property were denied or would have been denied under the BEG or BRueckG because the claimant, while able to prove a German company was responsible for seizing or confiscating property, was not able to prove that the property was transferred into then-West Germany (as required by law) or, in the case of bank accounts, that compensation was or would have been denied because the sum was no longer identifiable, where either (a) the claimant can now prove the property was transferred into then-West Germany or (b) the location of property is unknown.

7. The Foundation legislation, by making available the amount of 50 million DM, will provide a potential remedy for all non-racially motivated wrongs of German companies directly resulting in loss of or damage to property during the National Socialist era. The Foundation will refer such matters for review and processing to the committee referred to in paragraph 11. All funds allocated to payment for property matters will be distributed within those categories.

8. The Foundation legislation will provide that the heirs eligible to receive payments under paragraphs 6 and 7 consist of the spouse or children. In the absence of the victim, spouse and children, then payments under these paragraphs will be available to grandchildren, if alive; if not, to siblings, if alive; and if there are neither grandchildren nor siblings, to the individual beneficiary named in a will.

9. The Foundation legislation will provide that all eligibility decisions will be based on relaxed standards of proof.

10. The Foundation legislation will provide that legal persons will be allowed to make claims on behalf of individuals when those individuals have given powers of attorney. The Foundation legislation will also provide that where an identifiable religious community has suffered damage to or loss of community property, as distinct from individual property, resulting directly from the wrongs of a German company, a duly authorized legal successor may apply for payment to the committee referred to in paragraph 11.

11. The Foundation legislation will establish a three-member committee for property matters (paragraphs 6 and 7). The United States and the Federal Republic of Germany will each appoint one member; these two members will appoint a Chairman. A secretariat will be largely responsible for the initial review of applications. The Foundation legislation will require the Committee to establish simplified procedures, including simplified and expedited internal appeals. The Committee will not have the authority to reopen any case that has been finally decided by a German court or administrative body, or that could have been decided by application in time, except as specified in paragraph 6. All of the Committee's expenses will be funded from the amount allocated for property claims and the funds will be subject to audit.

12. The Foundation legislation will provide that the Committee referred to in paragraph 11 will distribute the funds allocated to it on a pro-rata basis.

13. The Foundation legislation will make clear that receipt of payment from Foundation funds will not affect the recipient's eligibility for social security or other public benefits. There will be offsets for prior compensation payments made by German companies for forced labor and other National Socialist era injustices, even if made through third parties, but there will be no offsets for any prior Government payments.

14. The Foundation legislation will provide that each applicant for a Foundation payment will be required to state that, upon receipt of a payment from the Foundation, he or she will waive any and all alleged National Socialist era claims against German companies and all National Socialist era labor and property damage claims against the German Government. Such a waiver will not preclude applicants from being eligible to receive payments under the Foundation legislation for other wrongs, for example other personal injuries or loss of property, or any combination thereof. Such a waiver also will not preclude an applicant from bringing an action against a specific German entity (i.e., Government agency or company) for the return of a specifically identified piece of art if the action is filed in the Federal Republic of Germany or in the country in which the art was taken, provided that the applicant is precluded from seeking any relief beyond or other than the return of the specifically identified piece of art.

15. The Foundation legislation will provide that each partner organization will create an internal appeals procedure.

16. The Foundation legislation will require that the Foundation provide appropriately extensive publicity concerning the benefits that the Foundation will offer and how to apply. The Board of Trustees, in consultation with the partner organizations, will determine the form and content of such publicity.

17. The Foundation legislation will allow applications to be made to the partner organizations for at least eight months after the enactment of the Foundation law.

18. The Foundation legislation will authorize the Foundation and its partner organizations to receive information from German Government agencies and other public bodies that is necessary for the fulfillment of their responsibilities, in so far as this is not contrary to particular statutes or regulations or the legitimate interests of the persons concerned.

19. The Foundation legislation will enter into force no later than when the funds of the Foundation are made available to it.

[end of document]