Macedonia’s plan to resolve outstanding Holocaust property claims was praised by American Jewish Committee.
Under the agreement with Macedonia’s Jewish community, Macedonia will allocate $25 million for the construction and initial operational expenses of a Holocaust Memorial Center under construction in the capital city of Skopje.
The center, located on returned Jewish property, will recount the story of the Holocaust in Macedonia and will also provide facilities for cultural and communal programs. Macedonia’s tiny Jewish community, now a few hundred people, numbered more than 7,000 before World War II.
AJC says it frequently raised the issue of restitution with Macedonia’s leaders, most recently with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in October and with Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki in December.
In 2002, the Macedonian government resolved outstanding Jewish communal property claims. With this new agreement, Macedonia is one of only a few countries that has settled claims against private Jewish properties with no apparent heirs.
