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Lithuania To Compensate For Seized Jewish Property


Lithuanian lawmakers have passed a compensation package for Jewish communal property seized by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Lawmakers voted in favor of the creation of a fund worth $53 million.

Payments into the fund will begin in 2013 and are due to end in 2023.

The government-audited fund will be administered by Lithuania's Jewish community organizations.

Its focus will be financing religious, health care, education, and cultural programs.

Some 95 percent of Lithuania's 160,000-strong Jewish community perished during the 1941-44 German occupation at the hands of the Nazis and local collaborators. According to the local Jewish community, some 5,000 Jews live in Lithuania today.

compiled from agency reports
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