October 10, 2005
Slovenia's Jewish community is seeking restitution for property its members lost during and after World War II. The president of the small country's Jewish community, Andrej Kozar Beck, said they were seeking US$ 17.9 million from the government. Kozar Beck said the tiny community – now numbering about 150 people – first requested that the government pay restitution five years ago, "but we're still where we started. Nothing happened.
I know this could not be solved overnight, but patience has limits and some think we should file a lawsuit" against the state, Kozar Beck told the "Associated Press" news agency. An estimated 1,500-3,000 Jews lived in Slovenia before World War II. During the wartime occupation of the country by Germany and Italy, most of the Jews were killed either in the country or after deportation to death camps in other occupied territories.
