The history of the founding of Volkswagen during the National Socialist period led to a special historical sensitivity and responsibility in the company. Among other things, this resulted in a regulation on compensation for forced laborers and the work at the memorial site in Auschwitz on the initiative of the group works council.
For decades, Volkswagen has worked closely with the International Auschwitz Committee (IAK) and the institutions associated with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. The core component of the cooperation is the International Youth Meeting Center in Auschwitz, the construction of which Volkswagen helped to finance.
The work on the memorial site in the former Auschwitz concentration camp initiated by the works council has been a joint project of the International Auschwitz Committee and Volkswagen AG since 1987. Over the past 30 years, more than 3,900 trainees, master craftsmen and managers have taken part in this program, which is unique in Germany. During their visits, the participants work on specific projects to preserve the memorial.
Volkswagen has supported the IAK in the past in order to set a continuous sign of solidarity and to remind people of the past together again and again.