| JOINT STATEMENT by the Lithuanian and Vilnius Communities | | On May 22 of this year, the BNS news service announced that the government of the Republic of Lithuania was presenting to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania a proposal by the Republic of Lithuania for legislation regarding compensation for real estate properties belonging to the Jewish communities. The Jewish Community of Lithuania, which unites thousands of members from 24 organisations, declares that it does not agree with the proposal for said legislation, and asks that the proposal as it stands not be presented to the Lithuanian Parliament.
The Conference of the Jewish Community of Lithuania and the Conference of the Jewish Community of Vlinius are distressed by attempts by the government of the Republic of Lithuania to change the restitution of illegally appropriated Jewish community property via the so-called “restoration of characteristic fragments of the historic Vilna ghetto”. Recreation of “fragments of the historic Vilna ghetto” could entail the creation of stylized buildings with no cultural, historical, or ethnographic value, and could allow the concealment from our descendants of Nazi crimes against Lithuania and the Jewish people.
The Jewish Community has been waiting for years for the return of property that was illegally appropriated by the occupational regimes. Until now, for various superficial reasons, the governing bodies have put off the resolution of this issue. The present-day Lithuanian government has seriously taken on this question, but has once again disappointed the rightful expectations of the Jews of Lithuania.
Only those who are well acquainted with the present situation can understand the true aims of this legislation, as they are laid out in its preamble: “The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania (...), in striving to contribute to the preservation of the cultural and material heritage of the Lithuanian Jewish community (...) and taking into account that there are no surviving successors to the right to the property of the Jewish communities of Lithuania (...) accepts this law for compensation for real estate.”
- This one sentence mixes together two separate goals: one – to contribute to the preservation of the cultural and material heritage of the Lithuanian Jewish community; two – to return property that was illegally appropriated by the occupants.
- The authors of the proposed legislation ignore the existence of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, a body that has been registered and has functioned successfully in Lithuania for the past 20 years, is recognised worldwide, and is a very valued member of many international organisations. It, together with the Lithuanian Jewish religious community, has created the cultural heritage fund of Lithuania’s Jews. Meanwhile, the legislation intends to restore property to a thus far undefined “fund designated by the government of the Republic of Lithuania”, instead of to the Jewish Community of Lithuania.
- We believe that the sum of 113 mln. as indicated in the proposal is unfounded.
The existing proposal for a law regarding compensation for properties belonging to the Jewish community is not acceptable to the Jews of Lithuania, or to the international Jewish community. Such a law does not resolve the most important issue – its proposal for the restoration of real estate to the Jewish people does not restore historical justice.
Chairman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania,
dr. Simonas Alperavičius
Chairwoman of the Jewish Community of Vilnius,
Faina Kuklianski
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