An historic agreement between the Jewish National Fund and Hashava, a company set up in 2007 by the Israeli government for the restitution of Holocaust victims’ assets is expected to lead to the return of nearly £30 million (NIS 159,000,000) to the families of victims.
Hashava this week called on Jews around the world to visit their website (www.hashava.info) to find out if any of their family members are listed.
The £30 million is the estimated value of assets that were held and managed by the JNF to ensure they were not confiscated by the British Mandate Government or stolen or looted.
Aiming to save these assets, the JNF transferred the properties of Holocaust victims to its own name and managed them for 70 years.
The current transfer of the funds to Hashava marks an important stage in returning the assets to their rightful owners.
“The agreement signed is an unprecedented achievement on behalf of the families of the Holocaust victims,” said Mr Micha Harish, chairman of Hashava.
The organisation’s chief executive, Dr Israel Peleg, regarded the agreement as “an enormous step towards repairing a decade old injustice”.
