Foreign Minister: Jewish restitution issue must be addressed

Oct 21, 2008
TBT Staff in cooperation with BNS

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas has said that the government needs to resolve the issue of Jewish property restitution.

The minister made this statement during his meeting with director of the international affairs department of the American Jewish Committee Rabbi Andrew Baker.

"We would hate to be tangled up in disputes over individual properties for the benefit of attorneys," Vilius Kavaliauskas, the prime minister's aide, told the Baltic News Service.

The relationship between the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the government has been strained lately, most notably following an international uproar over alleged construction on a Jewish cemetery outside Vilnius.

Lithuanian Jews owned huge swaths of land in the country before WWII. Now a new bill is on the table that would provide restitution to the Jewish community for land that was taken during the war.

“The public institution Lithuanian Jewish Heritage Foundation established by the Lithuanian Jewish community, the Lithuanian Jewish religious community and the World Jewish Restitution Organization shall be recognized the successor of the Jewish communities' title to remaining real estate and shall have said rights restored in its favor under this law,” the bill reads.

"Remaining real estate of Jewish religious communities transferred to the foundation and compensations for Jewish communities' remaining real estate shall be used for religious, cultural, educational, science and charity purposes of LithuanianJews, with the exception of funds that will go to the victims of Holocaust," it reads.

Currently, the list of Jewish property subject to restitution includes 108 items with market value of 174 million litas (50 million euros). Real rights to another 30 buildings are yet to be proven.

The Jewish community has so far had 2 buildings returned to it in Vilnius, 4 in Kaunas and 1 in Klaipeda. As there are virtually no more Jews residing in the province, there is no legal beneficiary to receive the Jewish property that remains there.

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