The Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Jewish Consistory of Luxembourg (CIL), the country’s EJC affiliate have reached an agreement on the unresolved issues related to the unlawful dispossession of Holocaust-era Jewish property.
The agreement was signed by the Government of Luxembourg, represented by the Prime Minister, Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, the Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, on the one hand, and CIL President Albert Aflalo, on the other hand.
Dimitri Dombret, European representative of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and François Moyse, President of the Luxembourg Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, will be co-signatories of this agreement.
A total of 1 million euros will be donated to the WJRO in a symbolic acknowledgement of Jewish Luxembourgian Holocaust survivors, though these funds will be distributed through the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. A further 120,000 euros will be donated every year for 30 years to the Luxembourg Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, which seeks to promote Holocaust remembrance. An increased budget will also be given to the Committee for the Remembrance of World War II
The agreement will provide financial resources to promote remembrance, education and research of the Holocaust in Luxembourg. In addition, the agreement commits to purchasing and renovating the Cinqfontaines Abbey and renovate it into a Holocaust memorial and education center.
The signing ceremony took place on 27 January 2021, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp.
