EU Holocaust conference backs new effort for return of Jewish property

Representatives of forty-six nations attending an EU conference on the Holocaust in Prague have agreed to press for a full restitution of Jewish assets stolen by the Nazis in World War II and provide social help for impoverished Holocaust survivors. The conference ended with the signing of a joint declaration urging that every effort be made to rectify the consequences of wrongful property seizures, such as confiscations, forced sales and sales under duress, which were part of the persecution of Jews during the war. The Terezín declaration – named after a Jewish ghetto – calls for some of the recovered property of Jews who did not have heirs to be used to help needy Holocaust survivors. The signatories have pledged to widen access to archives in order to make it easier to identify seized property. The five day conference on the Holocaust was the last event held under the Czech Republic’s six-month EU presidency.