(JTA) — Volkswagen said it was donating $1.3 million to the Auschwitz International Youth Meeting Center.

The automaker made the announcement on Tuesday at a meeting at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said in a statement that the money will be used for educational work and modernization of the facility.

He said Volkswagen has been involved with the center, an educational site located next to the Nazi death camp in Poland, for more than 20 years.

” The work on this site, which has become so deeply ingrained in the collective memory, has become for our employees an important undertaking,” Winterkorn said.

“These experiences shape us all. They have become a key element in our corporate culture. Above all, our donation expresses our gratitude for these experiences. ”

Volkswagen used concentration camp prisoners as slave labor in its factories during World War II. It has since contributed to a compensation fund for slave laborers.

SPONSORED TRIBUTES: Click here to read appreciations of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.