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GESETZ ZUR ERRICHTUNG EINER STIFTUNG "ERINNERUNG; VERANTWORTUNG UND ZUKUNFT" Informal translation prepared by the U.. S. Embassy Berlin. The German text is authoritative.
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Law on the Creation of a Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future"

Preamble 

Recognizing

that the National Socialist State inflicted severe injustice on slave laborers and forced laborers, through deportation, internment, exploitation which in some cases extended to destruction through labor, and
through a large number of other human rights violations,

that German enterprises which participated in the National Socialist injustice bear a historic responsibility and must accept it,

that the enterprises which have come together in the Foundation Initiative of German Industry have acknowledged this responsibility,

that the injustice committed and the human suffering it caused cannot be compensated by financial payments,
that the Law comes too late for those who lost their lives as victims of the National Socialist regime or have died in the meantime,

that this Law and the German-U. S. intergovernmental agreement provide adequate legal security for German enterprises in the United States of America,

that the German Bundestag acknowledges political and moral responsibility for the victims of National Socialism. The Bundestag intends to keep alive the memory of the injustice inflicted on the victims for
coming generations as well.

The German Bundestag understands that this Law, the German-U. S. intergovernmental agreement, the Statement of Interest of the U. S. Government, and the Joint Statement of all involved parties, provide
adequate legal security for German enterprises and the Federal Republic of Germany, especially in the United States of America. It has, with the concurrence of the Bundesrat, passed the following Law:

Section 1: Establishment and Headquarters
(1) A legally recognized foundation with the name "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" shall be established under public law. The Foundation comes into being as of the entry into force of this
legislation. (2) The headquarters of the Foundation shall be in Berlin.

Section 2: Purpose of the Foundation
(1) The purpose of the Foundation is to make financial compensation available through partner organizations to former forced laborers and to those affected by other injustices from the National
Socialist period. (2) A "Remembrance and Future" fund will be established within the Foundation. Its continuing task is to
use the income produced by the fiinancial assets provided to the Foundation to foster projects that serve the purposes of better understanding among peoples, the interests of survivors of the National Socialist
regime, youth exchange, social justice, remembrance of the threat posed by totalitarian systems and despotism, and international cooperation in humanitarian endeavors. In commemoration and respect of
those victims of National Socialist injustice who did not survive, it is also intended to further projects in the interest of their heirs.

Section 3: Donors and the Foundation's Capital Assets
(1) Contributors to the Foundation's capital fund shall be the companies joined together in the Foundation Initiative of German Industry, and the Federal Government.
(2) The Foundation shall be endowed with a capital fund consisting of the following: 1
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GESETZ ZUR ERRICHTUNG EINER STIFTUNG "ERINNERUNG; VERANTWORTUNG UND ZUKUNFT" Informal translation prepared by the U.. S. Embassy Berlin. The German text is authoritative.
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1. Five billion deutschmarks that the companies joined together in the Foundation Initiative of German industry have agreed to make available, including the payments that German insurance companies
have provided to the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims or will provide in the future.
2. Five billion deutschmarks that the German Federal Government is making available in the year 2000. The contribution of the Federal Government includes

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