Austrian firms agree Holocaust deal

Concentration camps in Austria held victims of the Nazis

State-owned companies in Austria have agreed to pay one billion schillings ($65m) into a compensation fund for survivors of the Nazi Holocaust in Europe.

Austrian firms that are part of the state-holding company OeIAG have been asked to contribute a voluntary 0.2% of their annual sales to a six billion schilling fund to compensate an estimated 150,000 surviving victims - whether they used slave labour or not.

The move was welcomed by Martin Echtinger, head of the government department for forced labour compensation.

"We are very pleased with this contribution, which is the requested 0.2% and a supplementary payment which we asked for from firms where either they or their legal predecessors made use of slave labour."

Last July the authorities agreed to set up the compensation fund and charged the government with the responsibility of collecting the money.

Letters were sent to Austrian firms last month requesting contributions, but few have replied so far.

Mr Echtinger said: "We think it is because it is the summer and many people are away. We hope that the OeIAG becomes a model example to everyone."

The authorities in Vienna say they hope the payment will serve as an example to private firms which have also been asked to contribute.

The Austrian move to compensate Holocaust survivors came as a deadline expired for Swiss companies to agree compensation for slave labourers used in their German affiliates during World War II.

Swiss and German firms have pledged almost $5bn to the fund.