Lithuania is planning to pay 113 million litai ($41 million) in compensation for Jewish property seized by the Nazis during World War II and subsequently kept in the state sector.
According to a Justice Ministry blueprint, the compensation will be paid to a special fund from 2011 until 2021 in installments to depend on the state’s “financial possibilities.”
The draft will be submitted to three Jewish social organizations for final agreement. Simonas Gurevicius, a representative of one of them, told the BNS news agency that he was not ready to make an appraisal of the draft until the property assessment method had been studied.
“We will look and compare if everything has been done in the same manner as during the assessment of the property of other faiths,” he said.
Over 200,000 Jews lived in the Baltic country before World War II, and Vilnius was called “The Jerusalem of the North.” There are currently around 5,000 Jews in Lithuania.
Synagogues were returned to Jewish communities several years ago, but claims have been laid to other buildings that previously belonged to Jews.
(Source: RIA Novosti)
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The problem with the proposed settlement is that the Lithuanian government only wants to give compensation for the physical structures and not the land beneath as if the land has no value. The Lithuanian government is undervaluing the properties and refusing to pay anything for the land. In addition, the government is supposed to pay out over a period of ten years but can actually delay the payments for as long as it wants.
The government has an agreement with the Jewish community that it will not sell off any Jewish property before compensation is made. That did not stop the government from trying in April to auction off the Vilna Ghetto Library. Fortunately, I as a non-Jew took notice and alerted everyone I could think of. There was even a letter published in Baltic Times. The auction was finally halted after pressure was put on the Lithuanian government. However, the most important site in all of Jewish Lithuania is still in the hands of the government.
The Lithuanian government tolerates, condones, promotes, and applauds anti-Semitism. That may seem harsh but they have done nothing to crack down on national newspapers which regularly print anti-Semitic materials. The government also recently attempted to prosecute Jewish partisans for allegedly having taken part in the killing of some non-Jewish Lithuanians. This despite the fact that of the thousands of Lithuanians who actively participated in the murder of Jews, of which zero were ever thrown into jail. The recent attempt at prosecution was halted but it was made sure that the good names of the partisans was not restored. Basically the farce was stopped due to lack of evidence at this time but could be revived in the future. I could go on and on but you get the idea.
Having said all that, the fact is that the Jewish community of Lithuania is not going away. They are not going to give the final victory to anti-Semites and to the nazis of World War Two. I am here fighting the good fight alongside people I am proud to call friends. While it is very easy to help Jewish causes in Israel and the USA where there are millions of Jews, I am asking people to reach into their wallets and reach out the communities which are struggling.
Wyman Brent
shammes
Vilnius Jewish Library