The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) has welcomed a decision by the Lithuanian government to designate the Good Will Foundation, in which WJRO is a partner together with the Jewish Community of Lithuania, as the recipient of funds to be provided under the property compensation law adopted in June 2011.
The government in Vilnius had announced the establishment of the foundation - which will give financial support for Jewish education as well as to religious and cultural institutions and projects - earlier this month. After several failed efforts to reach an agreement on Holocaust-era property restitution with previous Lithuanian governments, Prime Minister Andris Kubilius said in 2009 that he would propose to pay partial compensation over a ten-year period. The Baltic country's parliament passed legislation last June to pay the compensation, but there were repeated delays in completing the process.
"This is a very important decision after 15 years of discussions" between the government and the Jewish community, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius told reporters. "Such decisions are important for all of us, for historic justice, and we have made a big step in realizing our moral responsibility towards history, sometimes difficult and tragic history," he declared.
The World Jewish Restitution Organization welcomed the move. “We are grateful to Prime Minister Kubilius for his leadership in achieving passage of the legislation and in designating the recipient body,” the international body – of which the World Jewish Congress is a founding member – said in a statement, adding: “By designating this foundation an important step has been taken which will finally enable the implementation of the June 2011 compensation law. Most importantly, this will allow the foundation to this year receive the first 3 million litas (about US$ 1 million) from the Lithuanian government and to distribute funds to elderly Holocaust survivors."
An additional US$ 49 million is to be paid by the government over a ten-year period, starting in 2013, and will be used by the foundation for welfare, social, educational and cultural purposes. "It is a historical step. As far as I remember, it took 18 years to arrive to this date," Simon Alperovitch, the chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, told the news agency 'Reuters'. He called it "a very important decision for the whole of Lithuania, not only the Jews," pointing out: "Jews are always accompanied by miracles. One miracle has happened today."
Israel's Foreign Ministry said: “The decision implements the law approved by the Lithuanian parliament on this issue, and constitutes an important step towards providing historical justice for the Lithuanian Jewish community." Hannah Rosenthal, the special US envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, commended Lithuania "for its current efforts to address a difficult period in their history."
Pre-war Lithuania was home to an estimated 220,000 Jews, and the capital Vilnius was a cultural hub known as the 'Jerusalem of the North'. Ninety-five percent of the Jewish community perished during the 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of the Nazis and their local collaborators.
