Israeli President Moshe Katsav paid his first official visit to the Republic of Lithuania and its capital Vilnius, the city famed in the Jewish world as the “Jerusalem of Lithuania”.

During his visit Katsav met with the Lithuanian officials as well as representatives of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and discussed the issue of the restitution of Jewish property with Lithanian president Valdas Adamkus .

A banquet, attended by some 70 people, was held by Lithuanian president and his wife to honour Israeli President. The feast was prepared by the staff the recently opened Vilnius kosher restaurant.

Property restitution

One of the hottest issues in the Lithuanian society, restitution of the Jewish property, was discussed during the official meeting.

The Lithuanian Jewish community claims the property, which belonged to it before Soviet occupation in 1940 and was taken away or robbed firstly by the Soviets and then by the Nazis.

Despite communal concers, Katsav expressed his confidence in the Lithuanian authorities. He said: “I know that this issue is in the hands of the Lithuanian Government and other state institutions. I trust both the Lithuanian Government and Lithuanian President and I am not going to control their steps in this matter.”

In January 2005 Lithuanian Jewish Community surrendered the list of about 438 former Jewish objects. The Government confirmed the Community’s claim to 156.

The rest require deeper archival research. Furthermore, to grant the community’s request, the Lithuanian Parliament needs to issue an amendment to the 1995 property restitution of religious communities law.

Community meets Katsav

The Vilnius Jewish community, which was once the worlds largest, now consists of less than 5,000 members. Among the Jewish sites Katsav visited were the Tolerance center of the Jewish museum located in the beautifully restored former Jewish philharmonic concert hall.

Katsav also held a meeting with a broader Jewish audience which was held in the synagogue, the only one functioning pre-war prayer house in Vilnius.

“One of our most important aims is the preservation of history. So the preservation of the old Jewish cemeteries and holocaust sites should be better organized. Here we need understanding and help from the Lithuanian side”, stated Jewish Community’s chairman Simon Alperavich.

“Children and their education is our future so we shouldn’t abandon their education in the spirit and tradition of the Jewish nation”, said Katsav.

Katsav’s visit coincided with the eve of the Jewish Genocide Day in Lithuania, 23 September. “In 1943 on that tragic day the Nazis and their local collaborators liquidated the Vilnius ghetto,” said Alperavich said in his speech held in Paneriai – the largest holocaust site in Lithuania.

Katsav’s visit to Lithuania is seen to have had great significance for the country’s Jewish Community. It builds bridges between two states and strengthens identity of the diaspora Jews with their historic homeland.