World Jewish Congress leader calls on Lithuania to improve restitution bill

World Jewish Congress Secretary-General Michael Schneider has held talks in Vilnius with the Lithuanian government over the restitution assets stolen from Jews during World War II. The amounts should be adequate and the process carried out over a "reasonable" time frame, Schneider pointed out after meeting with Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius. He noted that he had a constructive conversation with the prime minister, but that further negotiations would be held with the Lithuanian government.

The current bill presented by the government earlier this year stipulates that the Jews are to receive compensation amounting to around US$ 50 million, a fraction of the value seized from Jewish owners during the Nazi occupation. This amount also includes the value of two buildings in the capital Vilnius.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite promised the Jewish community that would receive restitution. Addressing an international congress of 'Litvaks' – as Lithuania's Jews are known – in Vilnius, Grybauskaite said the Baltic state had spent the 20 years since its independence from the Soviet Union trying to correct "historical errors" that saw Jews dispossessed of their property and other assets when their community was almost entirely destroyed during World War II.

"This autumn the government and parliament will consider a Restoration of Property Act. I am very glad that a historical injustice which was not [perpetrated) in today's Lithuania, will be corrected, and you will get justice," she told delegates at the Third World Litvak Congress in Vilnius. Also speaking to delegates, Michael Schneider expressed hope that the government’s compensation offer would still increase.