In recent weeks, the Lithuanian government has distributed a total of €7.5 million in grants to hundreds of Holocaust survivors of Lithuanian origin and their families—most of them Israeli citizens. Each eligible recipient received approximately €20,000 in compensation for private Jewish property that was stolen during and after the Holocaust.
The payments were made possible by legislation passed in late 2022, following years of advocacy aimed at reopening the compensation process for Holocaust survivors and descendants who are not Lithuanian citizens. The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which played a key role in negotiations with Lithuanian authorities and supported applicants through the process, welcomed the move.
“This is an important moment of recognition,” said Gideon Taylor, president of WJRO. “These grants cannot erase the injustices of the past, but they represent an acknowledgment of the personal loss experienced by Lithuanian Jews and a small step toward restoring their dignity.”
The compensation is being administered by the Good Will Foundation (GWF), established by the WJRO and the Jewish Community of Lithuania to provide restitution for Jewish real estate seized during the Holocaust. Applications were accepted through the end of 2023, and a total of 930 claims were submitted. In 2024, the foundation reviewed the documentation in collaboration with government archives and property registries in Lithuania. Out of the claims, 340 were approved—240 of them belonging to Israeli citizens.
In addition to the individual grants, the Lithuanian government has pledged to allocate another €37 million over the next seven years for Jewish communal activities, as symbolic recognition of Jewish property without legal heirs.
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Yoram Duktory, a descendant of Dr. Aba Lapin, a leading figure in the Jewish community of prewar Kaunas, is among those who received a grant. “My family barely escaped before the war. Those who didn’t make it out were murdered,” he said. “What we received today barely scratches the bottom threshold of compensation and doesn’t come close to the value of the stolen property,” which he estimates at $60 million. He said the money would go toward restoring his family’s gravestones in the Jewish cemetery in Kaunas. “It’s not just about the money—it’s about restoring memory.”
Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of International Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Committee and co-chair of the Good Will Foundation, called the grants “a step toward justice.” Faina Kukliansky, head of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and co-chair of the foundation, added: “This isn’t just about property—it’s about identity, history, and recognition.”
Before World War II, Lithuania was home to around 220,000 Jews—one of the most prominent and influential Jewish communities in Europe. By the end of the Holocaust, approximately 95% had been murdered—one of the highest death rates in all of Europe.