President Reuven Rivlin, addressing a Thursday meeting on returning the properties stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust, “We always say, ‘crime doesn’t pay,’ but for many people the crimes of the Holocaust did pay. We cannot allow this. The property must be returned.”
The meeting, which also included Minister for Social Equality Gamliel, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yuval Rotem, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky, and Chair of the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) Executive Committee Abraham Biderman, was held at the president’s residence.
Also attending were German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze; EU Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen; UK Deputy Ambassador Tony Kay; Special French Envoy for Restitution Francois Croquette; and representatives of the Embassies of the US and France.
“There can be no true justice, in the face of such terrible evil, such inhuman acts,” the President began, and asked, “What justice, can we bring to the children left in the snow their whole families murdered in front of their eyes? What justice can we bring after the murder of six million people? We cannot bring them back. We have risen from the ashes. The Jewish people has a home, and an army to protect them. We have a strong economy, and Jewish culture flourishes. But no, the scars of the Holocaust, of the Shoah, can never be totally healed.”
The President continued: “In addition, time is running out. Fewer than 400,000 survivors are alive today. About half are here in Israel, the other half live around the world – many in the countries represented here. We all have a duty to the survivors today, now, to ensure their well-being. We have come a long way, both in recognizing the rights of survivors, and in returning property. In 2009, 47 countries signed the Terezin Declaration. We have made great progress in Serbia, and Romania, but there is still much more to do.”
Minister Gamliel said, “The Jewish people and the Jewish state have a moral duty to make every effort to return the stolen property of Holocaust survivors. Returning the Jewish property is a complex issue that requires extensive, and sensitive international action. Only is the Jewish world will speak with one voice, and claim the confiscated property from the victims of the Holocaust, will it be possible to work with the different countries to return the stolen property to its rightful owners, and achieve some historical justice. The statements made by the European Union last week on the importance of the issue of returning Jewish property did not occur in a vacuum, it is the result of cooperation and partnership between the State and the WJRO”
Director General Rotem told the meeting about the efforts made by the Foreign Ministry to reach the work plan which was signed at the conclusion of the event. “I am proud of the part the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has played in the current international efforts to achieve justice for the survivors of the Holocaust,” he said.
Gideon Taylor, Chair of Operations for the WJRO, added, “We welcome the powerful statement of President Rivlin in support of justice for Holocaust survivors. The engagement of the head of State in the issue of restitution will help propel the issue forward in the narrow window that we have while Holocaust survivors are still alive.”
At the end of the meeting, the participants joined representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by the Director General, together with representatives of the WJRO and the Director General of the Ministry of Social Equality and his staff, for the signing of a joint work plan to see the return of Jewish property stolen from the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.