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From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: WWII Memorial Builder Used Slave Labor

Date: June 19, 2001

"Memorial Builder's Parent Firm Used Slave Labor During WWII
By Spencer S. Hsu - Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 14, 2001; Page B04

Federal officials yesterday defended their decision to award a construction contract for the World War II memorial to an American firm whose German parent company used slave labor during World War II.

Tompkins Builders of Washington and Grunley-Walsh Construction of Rockville were awarded a $56 million contract last week to build the memorial on the Mall. Tompkins is owned by a subsidiary of J.A. Jones Inc., of Charlotte, N.C., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Philipp Holzmann AG of Frankfurt.

Holzmann, a $5.4 billion construction conglomerate, has acknowledged the use of forced laborers -- including war prisoners and concentration camp victims -- during the Nazi regime. It is one of 6,406 German companies that have agreed to contribute to a $4.4 billion national industry fund to compensate survivors of the labor camps.

John Graves, co-chairman of World War II Veterans to Save the Mall, part of a coalition that opposed the location and design of the memorial, said in a statement: "We are sickened by the announcement that a contract to build the World War II Memorial has been signed with a company tied to Nazi slave labor camps. This is the latest chapter in a dishonest process that is casting a shadow over what was until now a proud legacy."

The American Battlefield Monuments Commission, the group that raised $170 million for the memorial, and its contracting agent, the General Services Administration, said it was unfair and irrelevant to raise the issue of Holzmann's wartime history.

"The agency reiterates that Tompkins and Grunley-Walsh are responsible firms," GSA said in a written statement. "The joint venture of these American firms submitted the highest quality proposal and the lowest price, thus providing the best overall value to the government."

Mike Conley, the commission's spokesman, noted that federal agencies by law are not allowed to discriminate against U.S. firms based on the nationality of parent companies. "In today's global economy, international ownership relationships are common," he said.

Tompkins was established in the District in 1911 and is the Washington region's third-largest general contractor. It was acquired by J.A. Jones Construction Co. in the mid-1960s, and Jones was bought by Holzmann in 1979.

Tompkins helped renovate the U.S. Capitol and built the West Wing of the White House and the National Air and Space Museum, said John D. Bond III, president of J.A. Jones Construction. J.A. Jones built nine American military bases where U.S. troops were trained for World War II, the Navy shipyard in Panama City, Fla., and a uranium processing plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., that helped develop the atomic bomb.

"Anyone who questions the loyalty of J.A. Jones or Charles Tompkins . . . tramples upon the patriotism of our veterans and the men and women that supported the war effort," Bond said.

Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of international affairs for the American Jewish Committee and a negotiator for Holocaust victims' compensation claims, said German firms participating in the reparations fund deserve credit.

"Had you said the parent company here was one of perhaps a small number of German companies that refused to participate, that would be an unpleasant signal and may be cause for criticism," Baker said. "Whether the company itself is Siemens, Krupp, Daimler-Chrysler or Volkswagen that actually used slave labor, or companies that have been created since the war . . . they're all part of this single initiative."

The link between Tompkins and Holzmann was first reported by Media-General News Service.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) initially said the issue should be investigated, but a Schumer spokesman yesterday declined to comment further.

Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) issued a statement disavowing a newspaper report in which he had been quoted as saying that he "did not want to reward folks who were involved with Nazi Germany." In his written statement, Allen said he could not support any delay to the World War II memorial project."

© 2001 The Washington Post Company