The Lithuanian parliament Seimas on Tuesday approved 37 million euros in compensation for Jewish private property expropriated by the Nazis and Soviets.
The amendments to the Law on Good Will Compensation for the Property of Jewish Religious Communities were passed with 72 votes in favour, six against, and two abstentions. It will enter into force in January next year.
Under the existing law, Lithuania committed itself to pay 37 million euros over a decade in compensation for seized Jewish communal property. The process should be completed by next March.
Under the new amendments, the money will continue to be allocated to the Good Will Foundation, which will pay it out to Jews whose private property was seized, as well as their heirs. The foundation will be able to allocate 5 million to 10 million euros to meet individual requests for compensation for lost property.
The bill proposed compensations for the property that belonged to persons of Jewish nationality who lived in Lithuania before or during World War II and that was illegally expropriated by totalitarian regimes during the occupation.
Compensation would be granted if individuals had no legal possibility of restoring their ownership of property. They will be able to apply for compensation until the end of 2023, with the money to be paid out between 2024 and 2030.
The US government later welcomed the Lithuanian Seimas' decision.
“The passing of this legislation is an important step in recognising the tragedy of the Holocaust in Lithuania,” US Ambassador to Lithuania Robert Gilchrist was quoted as saying in the statement.
“It is not, however, only about addressing claims for the past. It is about preserving the memory of the Holocaust for future generations and working together against intolerance and hatred,” he added.
US Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain said that by passing this bill, Lithuania has taken another important step in fulfilling restitution commitments.
“For survivors and their families, this is a direct acknowledgement of the great wrong that was done to them,” she said.
Around 90 percent of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish population of about 208,000 were killed by Nazis and local collaborators between 1941 and 1944.
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