Luxembourg signs restitution deal worth

Luxembourg’s government has signed an agreement to pay reparations and restitute dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and looted art to
Holocaust survivors.

The deal also provides financial resources to promote remembrance, education and research of the Holocaust in Luxembourg, and was welcomed by Jewish groups campaigning for justice.

It was signed with the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), the Jewish community of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah.

“The agreement today is a profound statement by Luxembourg of its abiding commitment to preserving the memory of Jews who were persecuted and murdered during the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg,” said WJRO chair Gideon Taylor.

The Nazis occupied Luxembourg in May 1940 and about 2,000 Luxembourg Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Under the deal, the government also agreed to purchase and renovate a memorial to Jews who were sent to death camps from the country.

The Cinqfontaines memorial, near the site where Jews were assembled and deported, will be transformed into a “place to memorialise Holocaust victims and to educate future generations,” the WJRO said.