Nazi-Era Fund to Seek Spielberg's Help

[Brett Ferino]

Germany's compensation fund for Nazi-era slave laborers said it will seek assistance from director Steven Spielberg to record the testimonies of surviving victims.

The $5.5 billion fund, jointly set up by the German government and industry in 2000, has paid out $2.25 billion to 1.24 million victims so far. But it has drawn criticism for not compensating more victims before they died.

In an effort to keep alive the memory of aging survivors, part of the fund has been set aside for education projects, and officials said Thursday they would seek Spielberg's help for a plan to interview up to 1,000 survivors.

"We want to send a message that, even after the payments to former forced laborers, debate about the past and particularly about the Holocaust remains a long-term task," said fund President Michael Jansen.

Spielberg's Shoah Foundation already has videotaped the testimonies of more than 50,000 Holocaust survivors. The foundation was set up after the filming of 1993's Oscar-winning "Schindler's List," which chronicles the life of a German businessman who saved hundreds of Jews from Nazi death camps.

The fund said it would approach the foundation shortly, seeking advice and assistance, for instance, in training young interviewers, after many former slave laborers expressed interest in telling their stories.

The fund also said it expected to complete the payments to successful claimants, many of them in Eastern Europe. They are entitled to up to $8,200 each.