Compensation for Jews in Lithuania is a big step forward

The Lithuanian government has announced that it will pay compensation amounting to 113 million litas [around 33 million euros] to Jews who were expropriated during the German occupation in the Second World War. The news portal Delfi welcomes this plan: "This is a great step forward after previous governments led the Jews up the garden path for almost ten years. They didn't lie to 'the Jews' in the abstract but rather to concrete organisations, diplomats and politicians. They lied because they didn't understand why they should have to pay compensation and because they feared the political responsibility. The previous governments failed to consider that it is not about financial compensation but about justice and past suffering. … This is less a necessary step for the Jews than an important one for Lithuania, for we are trying in this way to come to terms with our history and to look the past boldly in the eye."

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