Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte on Tuesday introduced a draft bill to expand a compensation plan for Jewish property seized by the Nazis and Soviets. Proposed is that the country whose Jewish community was decimated during the Holocaust distribute 37 million Euros ($38.4 million) in restitution for lost private property. This is a symbolic sum as it was difficult to identify all seized property and ascertain their value according to the Prime Minister.

The plan comes a decade after Lithuania approved an equivalent compensation package for Jewish communal property seized during World War II.

This is an issue which is regularly brought up by Jewish groups and the Prime Minister wants to resolve it.

The draft bill reads that Jews whose property was seized and their heirs will be able to apply for compensation. The payouts would be handled by a special fund, which already administers the money the community received for its lost communal property.

If approved by the government and parliament, the funds will be distributed over several years starting in 2024.

To read the article see: https://www.timesofisrael.com/lithuania-mulls-expanding-compensation-for-jewish-property-seized-in-wwii/

Thank you to Yale Reisner for sharing the information with us.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee