JNS
“Each story behind these payments reflects a legacy of loss—and a step toward justice,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, of the American Jewish Committee.
The World Jewish Restitution Organization helped negotiate an agreement with the Lithuanian government to secure a one-time, €7.5 million (roughly $8.75 million) payment to Lithuanian Holocaust survivors and their heirs.
The funds, administered by the Goodwill Foundation, were distributed to hundreds of Lithuanian Jews as restitution for property that had been wrongfully seized.
The Nazis and local collaborators wiped out more than 90% of Lithuania’s 220,000 Jews during World War II, with only about 5,000 Jews still living in Lithuania today.
“Each story behind these payments reflects a legacy of loss—and a step toward justice,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of international Jewish affairs at the American Jewish Committee and co-chair of GWF. “This initiative represents the Lithuanian government’s symbolic commitment to acknowledging those losses.”
The payments, labeled as symbolic, totaled approximately €20,000, or $23,300, per claim and resulted from new legislation passed in late 2022 to replace a long-expired private property restitution process in Lithuania.
“This is a profoundly important moment of recognition,” Gideon Taylor, president of WJRO, said, adding that the payments “cannot undo the wrongs of the past, but they acknowledge the deep personal losses suffered by Lithuanian Jews and their descendants and help restore a measure of dignity that was stolen.”
GWF worked throughout last year, in cooperation with the Lithuanian government, to review archives and land registries to verify claims and identify eligible recipients. According to the WJRO statement, the organization reached out to potential claimants worldwide, including those in Israel, North America and Europe.
GWF stated that an additional €37 million, or approximately $43 million, will be distributed over the next seven years to support Lithuanian Jewish communal life.
