SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOLOCAUST ISSUES VISITS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VILNIUS 000155 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/OHI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KNAR SOCI PHUM OVIP LH SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOLOCAUST ISSUES VISITS LITHUANIA AND DISCUSSES RESTITUTION, ANTI-SEMITISM AND EDUCATION REF: A. 04 VILNIUS 22 ¶B. 04 VILNIUS 105 ¶C. VILNIUS 58 ¶1. Summary. Ambassador Edward O'Donnell, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, discussed property restitution, Holocaust education, and anti-Semitism with GOL officials and Jewish community leaders during a January 31-February 2 visit to Vilnius. Ambassador O'Donnell commended the level of Holocaust education in Lithuania, and recommended that the GOL and Jewish community work together to develop a timeline for the restitution of property. GOL interlocutors affirmed Lithuania's willingness to work quickly to settle restitution claims and combat anti-Semitism. End summary. ¶2. Ambassador O'Donnell discussed property restitution, Holocaust education, and anti-Semitism January 31-February 1 with senior GOL interlocutors, including MFA Vice-Minister Zenonas Petrauskas, Ministry of Justice State Secretary Paulius Koverovas, Ministry of Education State Secretary Alvydas Puodziukas, and Vilius Kavaliauskas, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister. He also met with Simonas Alperavicius, Chairman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, and Ronaldas Racinskas, Executive Secretary of the International Commission to Investigate the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. The Ambassador conducted an interview with the weekly news magazine "Veidas" and toured the Tolerance Center. -------------- Holocaust Education -------------- ¶3. Ambassador O'Donnell commended interlocutors on Lithuania's strong Holocaust-related education program and the GOL's work as a member of the Holocaust Education Task Force. Interlocutors detailed how the GOL, local NGOs, and the international community work together to implement Holocaust education throughout Lithuania. MFA Vice-Minister Petrauskas, who will likely lead Lithuania's delegation to the 2005 anti-Semitism conference in Cordoba, Spain, said that "Lithuania is indebted to the Jewish community," and commented that the GOL is working to bring more attention to Jewish culture and history. Kavaliauskas, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister, noting that some 2,000 Lithuanian collaborators participated in the killing of approximately 280,000 Lithuanian Jews (93 percent of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish population) told the Ambassador that "we cannot lie about history." Holocaust education in Lithuania, he opined, should reflect the "whole truth," since it is important that "if we are guilty, we say that we are guilty." ¶4. Ministry of Education State Secretary Alvydas Puodziukas told the Ambassador that the MOE formed a commission in 2002 to develop a Holocaust-focused curriculum. Lithuanian students receive instruction about the Holocaust in the fifth, tenth, and twelfth grades. The curriculum includes classroom instruction and extracurricular educational activities. Puodziukas spotlighted a project called "The Jewish Neighbors of My Grandparents and Great Grandparents" (ref A),a student writing competition launched by the House of Memory, an organization that studies and commemorates the Holocaust and Jewish Heritage in Lithuania. The project compiled student interviews with WWII survivors about the Holocaust. To date, two books have resulted from the oral histories the students gathered. Hilda Griskeviciene, MFA Counselor for Jewish Community Affairs, also highlighted seminars and community outreach activities of Vilnius University's Yiddish Institute. ¶5. Ronaldas Racinskas, Executive Secretary of the International Commission to Investigate the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, described for Ambassador O'Donnell ambitious community education and Holocaust teacher/training programs it has undertaken through its 38 Tolerance Centers throughout Lithuania. The Commission is also at work with the MOE to develop additional Holocaust-related teaching materials. Racinskas lauded the contributions to the development of Lithuania's program that U.S. Holocaust education programs have provided, especially in training Lithuanian educators (ref B). -------------- Anti-Semitism -------------- ¶6. Acknowledging occasional anti-Semitic remarks in the media, interlocutors uniformly maintain that there is a general tolerance toward Jews and significant efforts to combat anti-Semitism in the country. Petrauskas said he had personally appealed to the Prosecutor General to initiate criminal proceedings against authors of anti-Semitic comments published in the local press and on the Internet. Simonas Alperavicius, Chairman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, said that there are few incidents of intolerance toward the Jewish community in Lithuania. Desecrations of cemeteries, he said, were not directed solely at Jewish graves. -------------- Property Restitution -------------- ¶7. Interlocutors highlighted the goodwill between the GOL and the Jewish community in the restitution process. GOL interlocutors confirmed Lithuania's commitment to resolving the outstanding restitution of Jewish communal property. Petrauskas confirmed that the MFA had received the January 19 letter of Rabbi Andrew Baker, Coordinator of the International Committee to Represent Jewish Communal Property Claims in Lithuania, to Prime Minister Brazauskas indicating that the Committee had compiled a list of 437 properties for which it believed the Jewish community was entitled to restitution. Petrauskas said that the Government would send the list to the National Archives' researchers upon receipt. (As of February 17, Lithuanian Jewish Community leader Simonas Alperavicius has yet to transmit this list to the GOL.) Koverovas noted that the process of restituting Jewish communal property can only move forward once the GOL and the Jewish community agree on a final list of properties. Koverovas reaffirmed the commitment of the Justice Minister (ref C),who serves as the chairman of the interagency Restitution Commission, to overcome existing hurdles to the restitution process as rapidly as possible. Ambassador O'Donnell stressed the importance of establishing a timeline in order to keep all actors fully informed, and to provide impetus for, the restitution process. Division in Local Jewish Community -------------- ¶8. GOL interlocutors cited the different factions within the Lithuanian Jewish community as a potential impediment to the restitution process. Confirming that Rabbi Baker and Simonas Alperavicius were the official negotiators for the Jewish community, Kavaliauskas expressed concern that intra-community bickering over whom controls restitution proceeds could threaten the restitution process. He observed, in particular, a divide between the Jewish communities of Vilnius and Kaunas, and noted that plans for a foundation to manage the restitution process and funds envision no Kaunas representation. The GOL, he said, does not want to complete the restitution process and then face a series of lawsuits from disgruntled members of the Jewish community. (Embassy has encouraged Alperavicius to work more closely with local community leaders in Kaunas and other cities.) Legal Amendments -------------- ¶9. GOL interlocutors confirmed that Lithuania will need to amend existing laws to finalize the restitution process, but will begin to do so only after reaching agreement on the final list of properties to be restituted. Petrauskas noted that the GOL will need to ensure that all legal amendments do not discriminate against other minorities. Noting the powerful influence of Prime Minister Brazauskas within the governing coalition and his personal commitment to restitution, Kavaliauskas said he thought the necessary amendments would quickly receive parliamentary approval. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. The GOL and Jewish community are working hard to restitute property, combat anti-Semitism, and educate Lithuania's youth about the Holocaust. Lithuania's efforts in Holocaust education and in combating anti-Semitism have been exemplary. Progress on property restitution has been slow, however. We do not attribute this to GOL foot-dragging. In our view, the main culprits for delay include miscommunication between the Jewish community and the GOL, disagreements within the Jewish community, and difficulties in coordinating with the large number of interested international partners. Despite these challenges, however, the government has the necessary political will to overcome existing hurdles and complete communal property restitution sooner rather than later. ¶11. Ambassador O'Donnell cleared this cable. Kelly