Latvia’s Seaima passed in the final reading the Law on Compensation of Good Will to the Latvian Jewish Community. This new law provides for the payment of EUR 40 million compensation for the property losses suffered by the Jewish community in Latvia during the Holocaust.
The compensation will be paid over the course of ten years – 2023 to 2032. EUR 4 million will be paid every year, as stated in the annotation.
This money will be allowed to be used for the restoration of Latvian Jewish community’s cultural historic heritage and its preservation, support of the community’s organisations, property management, as well as religion, culture, education, science, healthcare, history, sports and charity activities, as well as promotion of cohesion of Latvian society, unity and civil society.
This money will also be allowed to be used for the maintenance of memorials of the victims of the Holocaust (Biķernieki Woods, Dreiliņi Woods, Rumbula, Mežaparks, Šķēde Cemetery, Daugavpils). Money will also be allowed to be used to provide social and material aid to victims of the holocaust in Latvia who currently live outside the country.
The goal is to provide financial support to Latvian Jewish community and compensate part of the lost property lost in the Holocaust in a show of good will in order to fix the historical injustice caused by the Nazi regime’s executed Holocaust and the Soviet totalitarian regime in Latvia, the annotation mentions.
It is decided the compensation amount listed in the law is final and puts an end to Latvian Jewish community’s rights to request compensation of lost property.
The compensation will be paid to the Latvian Jewish Community Restitution Fund. The money paid from the state budget will be stored in the State Treasury. The law provide the fund multiple duties, including the duty to report on the use of provided finances. The fund will also need to provide full transparency of operations.
Authors of the law mention that the new legislation details the fact that the Latvian state is not responsible for the Holocaust committed within the country’s territory during the Nazi occupation, and it is not responsible for the nationalization of property performed by the Soviet power during their occupation of Latvia.
Before World War II the Jewish religious organisations and community owned schools, orphanages, hospitals, culture centres. This real estate property was completely destroyed during the Holocaust along with the families that owned them. All of this real estate property was built or purchased by the Jewish community using their own or donated money before 17 June 1940.
Legal inheritors of members of the Jewish community had no way of recovering lost property through denationalisation because all family members were killed in the Holocaust or repressions of the totalitarian communist regime.
The annotation to the law states that during the Nazi Germany occupation of Latvia 75 000 Jews were killed in the country. This is nearly 90% of the pre-war Latvian Jewish community. It was the biggest crime against humanity committed in Latvia in the country’s history.
Latvian parliament passes law on payment of considerable compensation to Jewish community
