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