Adoption of compensation for Jewish religious community’s property

  • 2011-06-29
  • By Rokas M. Tracevskis

VILNIUS - On June 21, the Lithuanian Parliament passed the bill on Good-will Compensation for the Real Estate of Jewish Religious Communities, which was confiscated by the Nazis and Soviets, with 82 MPs from the entire political spectrum voting in favor of it while only seven MPs voted against and 16 MPs abstained. This means that from Jan. 1, 2013 to March 1, 2023, 128 million litas (37 million euros) will be paid to a special fund managed by the Jewish Community of Lithuania.

Andrius Kubilius, prime minister and leader of the center-right Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD), thanked his predecessor in the post of prime minister, Social Democrat Gediminas Kirkilas, for initiating the process for the bill’s adoption. However, some dissidents in the parliament spoke against the bill, stating that it was not Lithuania which confiscated that property. “Many of those perpetrating wrongdoings were not citizens of the Lithuanian Republic,” Egidijus Klumbys, MP of the oppositional Order and Justice parliamentary group, said during debates over the bill. Such views are popular with the masses, if one believes Internet comments, but they are not supported by the Lithuanian elite.

“The money will not be spent in one day – it will be used for long-term projects in sports, culture and other activities for Lithuania’s Jews,” Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, said in the parliament after the vote. There are 3,000 Jews in Lithuania, according to the Statistics Department. Other sources give the figure of 5,000. Kukliansky praised the decision of the parliament. The sum was calculated as 30 percent of the current price of former Jewish religious organizations’ property.

The biggest opponent of this bill is Mausa Bairakas, head of the Jewish Religious Community in Kaunas. According to him, the sum should be divided proportionally among the three existing Jewish religious communities in Lithuania. Bairakas, who also was present in the parliament during the bill’s adoption, expressed his distrust in the future management of the fund, which will be conducted by the Jewish Community of Lithuania. “There are huge financial scandals with such funds in Israel, America and Europe,” Bairakas said. The relations between the Jewish Community of Lithuania and the Jewish Religious Community in Kaunas are rather hostile. Kubilius and MPs of HU-LCD stated that majority of Lithuania’s Jews support the bill. Bairakas suggested that he will appeal to the courts.