The Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria has agreed to pay US$ 19 million to the heirs of a former Jewish art dealer for being allowed to keep an Egon Schiele painting looted by the Nazis in 1939. read more »
» Eizenstat calls for US arbitration commission for Nazi-looted art disputes
Plans by filmmakers in India to make a film on Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler that will claim that the despot loved India and that he indirectly contributed to its independence have outraged members of the Jewish community. read more »
The Greek government has assured the local Jewish community that legal proceedings against Nazi war criminals such as Alois Brunner, who was responsible for the deportation of 50,000 Greek Jews during World War II, would soon be possible. read more »
» Demjanjuk’s ID card as Nazi camp guard authentic, expert witness says
In Germany, ceremonies were held on Sunday to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps Bergen-Belsen, Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen. read more »
» Interview with WJC President Ronald S. Lauder on Holocaust commemoration
Ivan (John) Demjanjuk, who is on trial in Germany for allegedly helping in the murder of 27,900 Jews at the Nazi camp Sobibor during World War II, has told the court that he was an “innocent victim" and has been falsely hunted for decades. read more »
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decorated Britons who saved Jews and others from the Nazi onslaught during World War II with the new ‘Hero of the Holocaust’ medal. read more »
Hungary’s National Assembly has voted in favor of making the denial or belittling of the Holocaust a criminal offense, punishable by up to three years imprisonment. read more »
» Should the denial of the Holocaust be punishable under the law? 
Russian PM Putin has told his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu that Russia would soon build a museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. Netanyahu in response said Israel would erect a memorial dedicated to the efforts of the Soviet Red Army in liberating Europe during World War II. read more »
Stockholm police have arrested the former Swedish neo-Nazi leader Anders Högström, who is wanted in Poland over the theft of the ‘Arbeit macht frei" sign from Auschwitz. read more »
» Should the denial of the Holocaust be punishable under the law?
A court in Germany has summoned the Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson to attend a trial in April where he is to face charges of incitement for his belittling of the Holocaust, which is a crime in Germany. read more »
» Bishop Williamson refuses to pay fine for Holocaust denial
» German court fines Bishop Williamson for Holocaust denial
» Should the denial of the Holocaust be punishable under the law?
» Swedish TV interview in which Bishop Williamson denies the Holocaust 
The websites of two former Nazi concentration camps have been attacked by hackers, who replaced a ‘Book of the Dead’ on the Buchenwald pages with neo-Nazi slogans and completely erased the Mittelbau-Dora site. read more »
The nonprofit group Save a Torah has agreed it will only give provenances of its Torah scrolls “if there is documentation or an independent verifiable witness to such history,” according to an agreement with Maryland officials. read more »
The Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria has agreed to pay US$ 19 million to the heirs of a former Jewish art dealer for being allowed to keep an Egon Schiele painting looted by the Nazis in 1939. read more »
A huge poster of a Nazi swastika behind a naked pin-up model clad only in a Mickey Mouse-mask and stretched across a building has stirred controversy in Poland. read more »
The FBI has widened its investigation into fraudulent Holocaust era claims against the German government. read more »
A former SS sergeant who was under investigation for Nazi war crimes has died before he could be brought to trial in Germany. read more »
Australian citizen Charles Zentai has won an appeal against extradition to Hungary on war crimes charges. read more »
The state-owned French railway company SNCF may disclose details about the role it played in transporting Jews to the Nazi death camps during World War II if California passes a bill requiring it to do so. read more »
The decision by a Riga court to give a march by sympathizers of Nazi Germany the go ahead has upset Latvia’s Prime Minister Dombrovskis and his Foreign Minister Ronis. read more »
Plans by filmmakers in India to make a film on Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler that will claim that the despot loved India and that he indirectly contributed to its independence have outraged members of the Jewish community. read more »
The British government has appointed a former ambassador as its first-ever envoy to deal with post-Holocaust issues. read more »
Kirsten Gillibrand, the US senator for New York, has asked the Obama administration to investigate reports of neglect and vandalism at Jewish graveyards in Europe. read more »
Leading US lawmakers called on Eastern European nations to advance Holocaust-era property reclamation processes. read more »
A German court has rejected applications to dismiss the case against John Demjanjuk, on trial for the of murder 27,900 Jews as a at a Nazi death camp guard. read more »
An advertising campaign for an Italian clothing store featuring Adolf Hitler in a pink uniform has led to massive protests and demands for the posters' removal. read more »
A US immigration judge has ordered the deportation of a Pennsylvania man who worked as a Nazi concentration camp guard. read more »
John Demjanjuk, who is on trial in Germany for helping to murder 27,900 Jews at a Nazi death camp, was taken to hospital Tuesday after complaining of heart problems. read more »
More than six decades after its destruction in the ‘Kristallnacht’ pogrom of November 1938, the White Stork Synagogue in the Polish city of Wroclaw (formerly Breslau) has been re-dedicated following intensive renovation work. read more »
The Jewish Museum of Berlin is to get an extension to its current building which is to house one of the most important research and education centers on the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. read more »
Marta Rosenberg, an heiress to the widow of Oskar Schindler, has filed a lawsuit against a New York art dealer in order to stop the US$ 2.2 million sale of a copy of ‘Schindler’s List’, which she alleges is a fake. read more »
From the Journal by the Israel Council on Foreign Relations download »
Efraim Zuroff's great-uncle was kidnapped in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 13, 1941, by a gang of Lithuanians "roaming the streets of the city looking for Jews with beards to arrest." read more »
More than sixty years after the end of the Holocaust, and nearly two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Jewish communities in East Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union are still struggling with the question of how to reclaim the properties which were taken from them during the Nazi and Communist regimes. download »
Visitors entering the Terror Háza [House of Terror] in Budapest are immediately confronted with the political agenda of the public foundation that operates this popular museum - one of the most visited attractions in the Hungarian capital. download »
Vatican decree signed by Benedict XVI on the declaration of venerability 17 people, including Pius XII. The declaration of venerability starts the process of beatification of individuals. read more »
Reflections, from Bergen-Belsen to the White House by Menachem Z. Rosensaft read more »
Restitution
The WJC has led a number of restitution efforts over the past decades and was a founding member of the World Jewish Restitution Organisation (WJRO). However there are still some countries that have not yet adequately addressed the issue of property restitution.
Restitution and compensation are primarily about justice and not only about money. It is about honouring those who perished in the Shoah and helping those who survived unimaginable anguish in the Nazi death camps.
Negotiations should be conducted in the framework of the WJRO (which includes the Claims Conference and other international Jewish organizations) in coordination with the Israeli government and with the support of the US government and the European Union.
The distribution of any compensation monies should not be handled by the WJC. The
WJC does not seek any form of commission or gratification payments from Holocaust-era compensation or restitution agreements.
Funds destined for Holocaust survivors, or their heirs, should be transferred to them without delay.
Poland needs to urgently implement the law allowing for the return of confiscated properties, or alternatively for the payment of adequate compensation, to victims of the Holocaust or their heirs.
Bosnia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia should also engage in immediate negotiations to bring closure to this issue in the interests of all.
The German government and others need to ensure that poor survivors of the Shoah continue to have access to adequate medical and social services, and receive a decent pension.
Holocaust commemoration and education
Some countries do not adequately commemorate WWII- and Holocaust-related events. In many eastern European countries, Holocaust education is insufficient and/or inaccurate.
Initiatives by international organisations, governments, NGOs and private individuals to organise commemorative events on Holocaust related anniversaries are important and should be welcomed.
Political leaders and well-known personalities should be encouraged to participate in such events, as they serve as an important reminder for today’s generation.
Holocaust education should be included in every school curriculum, in all countries. Providing good education and information about the Holocaust becomes even more important as Shoah survivors will soon no longer be alive to tell their story.
Holocaust Denial
The denial or trivialization of the Holocaust is becoming increasingly fashionable.
Denial of the Holocaust is abhorrent. It denigrates the memory of those who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis.
Denial of the Holocaust has become a political weapon by anti-Semites, especially in Europe. EU wide legislation bringing a unified approach to legal action against Holocaust deniers is imperative.
Iran's nuclear ambitions pose a threat to its neighbors and the world. Iran is a leading sponsor of terrorism. Iranian leaders, above all President Ahmadinejad, repeatedly question or deny the Holocaust and threaten Israel. read more »
Anti-Semitism is still a deeply-rooted phenomenon in many democracies, despite efforts by governments and NGOs to tackle it. In addition to 'traditional' anti-Semitism, new forms and expressions of anti-Semitism are being manifested around the world. read more »
Jews, and Jewish sites, are often the main targets of terrorists. The WJC works to fight terrorism by advocating a halt in arms proliferation to terrorist groups, better international cooperation, and the protection of Jewish institutions. read more »
Around the world, Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is constantly questioned. The WJC and its affiliates actively defend the legitimacy of Israel on all levels and support the state against unfair and biased attacks. read more »
Seven decades after the Shoah, some countries still have not returned stolen Jewish property. The WJC defends the rights of the victims and their heirs. It also strives to ensure that the greatest crime in the history of mankind is not denied or trivialized. read more »
The plight and concerns of Jews who fled from,or still live in, Arab lands after 1948 are not well-known. The WJC is committed to raising this issue with governments and international organizations. read more »
The WJC has always spearheaded dialogue between the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Inter-faith cooperation can make an important contribution to peace around the world and to better understanding between communities in our societies. read more »
