Germany [shut] down a forced labour fund that paid out more than 4.37 billion euros to 1.7 million elderly victims of the Hitler era around the world. The fund was set up in 2000 by the German government and 6,000 German companies, many of which had profited from the 10 million forced labourers used by the Nazis to keep the war machine running...Leading firms such as Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank and Bayer contributed [into the fund].