Restitution

The agreement includes the donation of 1 million euros as a symbolic acknowledgement and the purchase of the Cinqfontaines Abbey, which was a Nazi internment camp, converting it into a memorial.

Over NIS 9 million will be distributed this week to at least 2,100 individuals, averaging at over NIS 4,000 per person.

“We are alarmed by growing antisemitic discourse in Poland and scapegoating of the Jewish community, which run counter to our nations’ shared values.”

While Latvia has worked to ensure the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust and promote education and historical study on the subject, progress on property restitution has remained slow.

The issue of restitution of property confiscated from Jews during the Holocaust has long been a contentious issue in Polish politics and has played a major role in tensions between Poland and Israel.

The decision reverses the 2008 stance by the city, which owns the museum, in which it argued that the collector, Curt Glaser, sold the artworks at market value.

Recent efforts to advance the cause of restitution for Jewish property confiscated In the late 1940s and early 1950s have heightened tensions over the issue.

The ruling Law and Justice Party views Poland as a victim of World War II, and that therefore Poland should not be required to pay damages to other victims.

No communal Jewish property has ever been restored to the community following the Holocaust or the Communist regime.

Initiative is too limited, says the World Jewish Restitution Organization.