Serbia passes Holocaust restitution law

Parliament approves law allowing heirless and unclaimed property taken during World War II to be returned to Jewish owners

By AP 13 February 2016, 4:52 am

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This photo provided by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shows Hungarian soldiers as they execute Serbians and Jews on Miletic Street in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, January 23, 1942. (AP Photo/Jewish Historical Museum, Belgrade via United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Serbian lawmakers have voted on a bill allowing the restitution of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property expropriated during the Holocaust.

The World Jewish Restitution Organization said Friday Serbia is one of the first countries in Eastern Europe to pass such a bill, which means the property will be returned to the local Jewish community.

Gideon Taylor, WJRO chair of operations, says “this is a step toward justice and the recognition of history.”

Taylor said in a statement “we look to other countries to follow Serbia’s lead.”

The organization had actively campaigned for the law to be passed.

Tens of thousands of Jews living in Serbia during World War II perished in brutal Nazi-run death camps or were mass deported to the camps outside the Balkan country.