LITHUANIA: GOVERNMENT SENDS JEWISH PROPERTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000391 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA: GOVERNMENT SENDS JEWISH PROPERTY RESTITUTION BILL TO PARLIAMENT REF: VILNIUS 115 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Damian R.Leader for reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d). ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The GOL on July 15 approved a plan for compensation of communal Jewish property expropriated by the Nazi and Soviet occupation regimes. The compensation plan calls for the government to pay 128 million litas (about 52.2 million USD) to a foundation to be determined by the GOL. The first 3 million litas, to be used for the support of Holocaust survivors, would be paid by March 2011. The rest would be paid over a 10-year period, beginning in 2012. This plan differs markedly from the one negotiated last year by the GOL and the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which has been a partner of the Jewish Community of Lithuania (JCL) for years. The GOL abandoned that plan, which called for buildings to be returned when possible and compensation to be paid when buildings could not be returned, because of vague concerns about its constitutionality. The new plan calls for compensation at a rate of 30 percent of market value, with a provision for only two buildings to be returned. The JCL and WJRO on July 16 issued a joint statement calling the plan "wholly inadequate and unacceptable." The bill now goes to the Seimas (parliament), which is expected to debate the issue in its autumn session. ¶2. (SBU) Although Jewish groups say the compensation called for in the plan is too little, the GOL is in dire financial straits and, politically, is taking an unpopular decision. In a country where anti-Semitism is strong, the government is proposing to pay millions of dollars to the Jewish community at the same time it is cutting social benefits and government salaries. We will continue to press the GOL and Seimas, and work with Jewish groups, to ensure that the Jewish community gets adequate compensation for property stolen from it. End summary. ¶3. (U) The Lithuanian government on July 15 okayed a plan to pay compensation for communal Jewish property seized by the Nazi and Soviet regimes that occupied Lithuania beginning in World War II. The plan will now go to the Seimas, which is expected to take up the issue in the autumn. The plan, which was drawn up without significant input by the local or international Jewish communities, calls for the GOL to pay 128 million litas over a period of 11 years. The first payment of 3 million litas (about 1.2 million USD) would be paid by March 2011 for the support of elderly Holocaust survivors, many of whom live in poverty and poor health. The remainder would be paid out over 10 years, starting in 2012. ¶4. (C) Although international and local Jewish communities are unhappy with the plan approved by the GOL, some had argued that compensation on the basis of that plan should be accepted, because they feared that the alternative would be no compensation at all. They are unhappy that after eight years of negotiations, the GOL drew up the current plan without consulting with Jewish leaders. But even more important, they say, is that the plan calls for too little, too late, and without any clarity on who would receive the money. They say: -- The compensation level is too low. The GOL says it is paying for property at 30 percent of its full value. The Jewish communities say the total does not come close to 30 percent, and asks why that number was chosen in the first place. They say they would be happy to take the buildings themselves -- which was what the plan agreed to in 2008 called for -- as that was what was stolen from them. The GOL has said it would allow the Jewish community to acquire buildings it once owned, but to do so it would have to pay 100 percent of their value, and not the 30 percent they are receiving for the same buildings. Thus, the GOL could find itself in the position of appearing to make a considerable sum of money by selling expropriated property back to the Jewish community from which it was stolen. -- The payments start too late. The Jewish community would like money to support Holocaust survivors paid immediately, before too many more of them die. They also would like to be able to take immediate ownership of the two buildings mentioned in the plan. But the plan would not allow those buildings (which would be the only ones compensated at 100 percent of their value) to be turned over until the compensation payments begin in 2012, because the community would use compensation money to "buy" those buildings. One of the buildings in question houses the JCL offices and the Jewish Museum; the other was the wartime Jewish Ghetto library. -- The funding mechanism is unclear. The WJRO and JCL have formed a foundation to be the recipient of restitution funds. Citing political reasons, the GOL will not specify in the plan that the foundation will, in fact, receive the money. Kubilius has given private assurances that he intends to designate that foundation or one very similar to it, but the Jewish communities do not have much trust in his government right now. Also, they note, the foundation would not need to be designated until early 2011, and the government could well change by then. -- The JCL wants buildings that the local Jewish communities in the cities of Kaunas, Klaipeda, Panevezys, Siauliai and Ukmerge could use. Despite repeated requests to the GOL that such buildings be handed over as part of the restitution plan, none was included. ¶5. (C) Simonas Gurevicius, executive director of the JCL, told us that he believed the community would have been better off had it waited and used the time to try to strike a better deal. "We could say, 'We're ready to wait because the country is in a financial crisis.' The feeling I have now is the government wants to get this problem finished with, and is using the economic crisis to excuse themselves why the amount is so small." He also said that he thought the people of Lithuania, where anti-Semitism and intolerance are widespread, would strongly oppose the payment of 128 million litas to Jews. "We should be very unhappy," he said of the government's plan. "It's not a very good result for us." ¶6. (SBU) It also may not be a very good result for the GOL, which is taking a political risk by putting forth this plan. On the same day that the Cabinet approved the compensation plan, the Seimas was debating significant cuts in maternity-leave benefits. The government has severely cut spending in all areas and has raised taxes, yet the financial situation in Lithuania remains precarious. So far, the media have not blamed the government for cutting benefits while simultaneously seeking to pay money to the Jewish community. But with the Seimas not likely to debate the bill until fall, that leaves months for such speculation and attacks to form. The Jewish community already is being attacked for greediness. A July 16 article on one of the top Lithuanian news websites said: "Looking at the news on television, you hear that they are cutting pension and salaries of civil servants, trying to resolve a financial catastrophe. Yet at the same time the Jews are demanding not 130 million litas but 300 million litas." ¶7. (U) The plan agreed to by the WJRO and the GOL last year called for restitution of properties when possible, and for monetary compensation only when actual return of buildings was impossible or impractical. That plan, Jewish leaders say, would have given their community back its rightful property without requiring a massive cash payout by the government. The GOL abandoned that plan in the face of vague worries by some government lawyers that it might be found unconstitutional if challenged in court. The statement by the JCL and WJRO points out that just a few weeks ago at the Prague Conference on Holocaust-era Assets, Lithuania endorsed the Terezin Declaration, which encourages countries to "make every effort to provide for the restitution of former Jewish communal and religious property." In most other countries, it was eventually returned or compensated at full value, the statement said. ¶8. (C) Comment: The GOL believes it has done well by approving this plan in parlous economic times. The politicians who make up the government could well face voter backlash if they tried to offer more. The Jewish communities are in a difficult position, because while they rightly see this plan as providing grossly inadequate compensation, it may provide their last best chance for getting any compensation or restitution at all. We will continue to work with the GOL and with the Seimas -- as well as with local and international Jewish organizations -- to ensure that the Jewish communities receive equitable restitution or compensation for their stolen property. LEADER