A British-Russian property exchange agreement today spurred former residents of Latvia and Estonia here to start registration of claims for compensation for property confiscated or nationalized by the Soviet Union when it annexed the two Baltic countries.
The agreement, covering exchange of Russian property in Britain for the property of British citizens in Latvia and Estonia, was based on an order in the British Parliament approved in 1959 which mentions Palestinian residents of up to May 15, 1948 as beneficiaries of the exchange pact.
Considerable discussion developed in Israel as to whether this included not only the people who owned property in the Baltic countries but also their inheritors. Questions on this point have been forwarded to British authorities. Many Israelis owned substantial properties in the two countries and there are still more Israelis whose late parents had property which was confiscated or nationalized by the Soviets.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
