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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:
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:
Contact information is as follows:
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
Sophienstrasse 26
18 Gruzenberg Street
Website: www.claimscon.org
International Organization for Migration
17 Route des Morillons, C.P. 71 Website: www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org Email: compensation@iom.int Reconciliation Foundations
Belarus:
Czech Republic:
Poland:
Russia:
Ukraine: 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: [end of document]
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