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Reports on the possibility that individuals will begin bringing suit against Japanese companies for being forced into slave labor during World War II. Suit brought by Edward Fagan, a lawyer from New York, against a few companies; Information on slave labor usage in Japan; Response of the Japanese government. INSET: What's in a name?.

Discusses efforts to secure monetary reparations for activities during the Holocaust as of 1999. Various different efforts, including attempts to claim dormant bank accounts and insurance policies belonging to Holocaust victims; Efforts to claim money for forced-labor during the Holocaust; Question of the political subtexts to many efforts to claim reparation; Question surrounding placing a monetary value on Holocaust experiences.

Discusses reparations for injustices of World War II in light of the February 1999 announcement by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder of the establishment of a fund to compensate former slave laborers and others who suffered under the Nazis. Claims against United States, British and other companies; Questionable motives of some who seek or encourage others to seek damages.

Presents information on the class action lawsuits against German companies for their slave labor practices during World War II. Number of lawsuits against such companies increasing due in part to class-action lawyers in the United States; German court ruling that opened the door to slave-labor claims against private companies; What Germany's government has paid out to victims; How the companies view the legal claims.

Reports on the settlement between Jewish groups and lawyers for Holocaust survivors and two banks in Switzerland over money deposited during the second world war. Some money stolen by Nazis or deposited by victims for safe keeping; Switzerland's banking industry's resistance to claims; United States threats of sanctions against Credit Suisse and USB; Impact on Swiss pride; Other claims on behalf of Holocaust victims.

Relates that the admission of Swiss bankers that they had made little effort to find out what happened to owners of 1,756 pre-1945 accounts is unlikely to get them off the hook of persistent demands for repayment and apology. The promise of Swiss businessmen and politicians to put aside money to help surviving Holocaust victims and other good causes.

Speculates on a possible dialogue between Czechs and Sudeten Germans, who were stripped of their Czechoslovak citizenship and their property at the end of World War II and driven across the border to Austria and Germany. Conflicting opinions of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Czech President Vaclav Havel; Bavaria's Edmund Stoiber; Compensation claims.