Jewish Group to Seek Restitution for Nazi and Communist Thievery
JERUSALEM — A new organization will seek restitution of Jewish communal property worth billions of dollars seized by Nazi and Communist governments in Eastern Europe.
The new Jewish Restitution Organization united eight established Jewish groups to claim return of or compensation for communal assets, including schools, hospitals, synagogues, artworks and ritual objects.
“We demand restitution of property taken away from Jews by two sets of illegal regimes--the Nazis and then the Communists,” said Israel Singer, secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, one of the eight member organizations.
The group hopes to coordinate a legal and political campaign to recover Jewish communal assets in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and republics of the former Soviet Union.
Singer said he believes the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the stated intentions of new governments to return property taken illegally from citizens now make it possible to demand restitution.
The organization’s initial calculations estimated that the property is worth at least $10 billion, but the figure could be much higher.
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