• DaimlerChrysler a founding member of foundation initiative of German Economy
• Positive outcome for victims
• Call for additional companies to participate
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As a founding member of the initiative of German economy "Responsibility, Remembrance and the Future", DaimlerChrysler and in particular, Dr. Manfred Gentz, its representative in the issue, supported the idea of a gesture of moral responsibility toward former forced laborers from the very beginning. DaimlerChrysler Chairman Juergen Schrempp "I want to thank my colleague Manfred Gentz for his tremendous involvement in these negotiations. He played a decisive role in making this resolution for the surviving forced laborers possible."

"It was very important to us to get help to the victims quickly and unbureaucratically. And that can best be achieved by this initiative", said DaimlerChrysler Board of Management member Dr. Manfred Gentz. "We are extremely pleased that after months of effort, an agreement has finally been reached that will benefit the victims".

Gentz also called upon other German companies which have yet to join the initiative to do their part as well. He described such involvement as a "moral obligation".

DaimlerChrysler has long accepted its historical responsibility The former Daimler-Benz AG and current DaimlerChrysler AG was one of the first large German companies to accept its historical responsibility and take a critical look at its activities under the Nazi regime. The subject of forced labor is, of course, an important issue in this respect. The following chronology presents the company's progress from its first intensive dealings with the issue to the recent establishment of the humanitarian reconciliation fund:

1983 to 1984

The former Daimler-Benz AG opens its archives to historical research. The opening of the archives is followed by celebrations marking the 100^th anniversary of the automobile, which Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz developed simultaneously in 1886, but independently of one another. The occasion focuses the company's attention on its past. In particular, the company realizes that its activities during the Nazi dictatorship from 1933 to 1945 have not been sufficiently researched.

1986

The documentary volume, "Daimler-Benz AG in the years 1933 to 1945," by Hans Pohl and Wilhelm Treue, is published by the Steiner Verlag. The Daimler-Benz AG Board of Management decides that the company should establish its own research project on the issue of forced labor.

1987

A large research project gets under way. Four scholars not only comb through written records in Germany and abroad but also conduct approximately 270 interviews with former forced laborers in Eastern Europe, the United States and Israel. All interviews are documented and archived.

1988

Daimler-Benz AG provides millions of dollars worth of humanitarian assistance to organizations which care for former forced laborers. These organizations are the German Red Cross, the Conference on Jewish Claims Against Germany and the Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk, which is particularly active in Poland. More than $15 million has been donated to these organizations to date.

1989

Daimler-Benz invites former forced laborers, with whom contact had been established through the aforementioned interviews, to visit the plants at which they were forced to work during the Nazi dictatorship. Several hundred former forced laborers accept this invitation and visit the plants, often accompanied by members of their families. The visits result in cordial, personal relationships which remain active to this day.

1994

The book, "Forced Labor at Daimler-Benz," edited by Hans Pohl, is published by the Steiner Verlag. The contributors are Barbara Hopmann, Mark Spoerer, Birgit Weitz and Beate Bruninghaus.

1998

Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart, and Chrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills, Michigan, merge on November 17, 1998 to become DaimlerChrysler AG. More than half of the company's shareholders reside outside of Germany.

1999

DaimlerChrysler and 15 other large German companies join together to create the foundation initiative of German economy "Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future." The initiative is an attempt on the part of the companies to face up to their historical responsibility and acknowledge their respect to former forced laborers at the end of the century through a humanitarian gesture of reconciliation.