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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the German Foundation " Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future" Fact Sheet, Released by the Office of Holocaust Assets Issues Bureau of European Affairs, U.S. Department of State Washington, DC, August 18, 2000

What is the foundation? In July 2000, the Federal Republic of Germany passed a law establishing the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future." The foundation is to distribute payments from the foundation's capital of DM 10 billion to partner organizations that will distribute the funds to qualified claimants. Who is eligible to file a claim? The German law considers claims by actual victims for the following: Labor performed while detained in a concentration camp or concentration camp-like facility during the Nazi era. (The heirs of those laborers who died after February 15, 1999, are also eligible to file.) Labor performed while detained in a labor camp -- prison-like or extremely harsh living conditions -- during the Nazi era. (The heirs of those laborers who died after February 15, 1999, are also eligible to file.) Injuries to or death of a child lodged in a home for children of forced laborers, damage incurred through medical experimentation, and other non-labor related personal injuries suffered during the Nazi era. The German law allows for claims by victims or their heirs for the following: Property loss or damage caused by German companies during the Nazi era, including claims against German banks and insurance companies. Do I need legal assistance to file a claim? Throughout the 18 months of negotiations leading to the establishment of the foundation, the negotiating parties emphasized that the application process should be non-bureaucratic and non-adversarial. It is, therefore, NOT necessary for applicants to retain legal counsel to assist in filing applications. How can I file a claim? Under the German law, the foundation is authorized to carry out the disbursement function based upon the place of residence of the eligible applicants. The foundation began operating on August 12, 2000 and has not yet prepared application forms. Until the forms are ready, applicants may provide name and complete address information to one of the following organizations that can provide application forms when they become available: Current residents of Russia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belarus or Poland should submit applications to the respective Reconciliation Foundations established by the Federal Republic of Germany in each of those countries. Residents of Latvia and Lithuania should submit applications to the Reconciliation Foundation for the Russian Federation. Residents of Estonia should submit applications to the Reconciliation Foundation for Belarus. Residents of Moldova should submit applications to the Ukrainian National Reconciliation Foundation. The contact information for these Reconciliation Foundations is listed below. Current residents of the U.S. or any other country not mentioned in the previous paragraph should submit applications using the following guidelines: Jewish victims should submit applications to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany Non-Jewish victims should submit applications to the International Organization for Migration Please note that the deadline for filing claims is April 11, 2001, unless otherwise indicated by the organization. Contact information is as follows: Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany 15 East 26th Street New York, NY 10010 U.S.A. Telephone: +1-212-696-4944 Fax: +1-212 679-2126 Sophienstrasse 26 60487 Frankfurt-am-Main Germany Telephone:   +49-69-72-0721 18 Gruzenberg Street P.O. Box 29254 65251 Tel Aviv Israel Telephone:  +972-3-517-9247 Website: www.claimscon.org Email:: info@ClaimsCon.org International Organization for Migration Slave and Forced Labour Compensation Project 1752 N Street NW Washington DC 20036 USA Telephone:  +1-202-862-1826 Fax:  +1-202-862-1879 17 Route des Morillons, C.P. 71 CH-1211 Geneva 9 Switzerland Telephone:  +41-22-7179235 Fax:   +41-22-7986150 Website:  www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org Email: compensation@iom.int Reconciliation Foundations Belarus: Reconciliation Foundation for Belarus ul. Jakuba Kolassa 39a 220013 Minsk, Belarus Telephone:  +375-17-26-83-183 Fax:  +375-17-21-00-171 Czech Republic: Reconciliation Foundation for the Czech Republic Na Kazance 634/7 17101 Prague, Czech Republic Telephone:  +420-2-838-505-12 Fax:  +420-2-838-505-03 Poland: German-Polish Reconciliation Foundation ul. Krucza 36 00-921 Warsaw, Poland Telephone:   +48-22-629-73-35 Fax:   +48-22-629-52-78 Russia: Reconciliation Foundation for the Russian Federation Stolowy Pereulok 6 121069 Moscow, Russia Fax:   +7-095-291-10-48 Ukraine: Ukrainian National Reconciliation Foundation Wuliza Frunse 15 01080 Kiev, Ukraine Fax:  +380-44-462-50-06 Where can I get more information? Texts of the documents signed in Berlin on July 17, 2000, and other documents relating to the Holocaust are available at both the websites: U.S. Embassy in Berlin and Department of State [end of document] Holocaust Issues | Bureau of European Affairs | Department of State