The foundation paid compensations to more than 1.66 million Nazi victims in nearly 100 countries between 2001 and 2007. More than 4 billion euros were contributed to the foundation by German companies and the government. People who were subjected to forced labor and imprisoned in ghettos during the Nazi rule received several thousand euros in compensations.
In an interview to BNS in Vilnius, Saathoff said he thought Russia should take responsibility for the harm caused by the Soviet regime, although he questioned feasibility of the compensations. He also warned the economic crisis in Europe could trigger extremist and anti-Semitic ideas, with signs already observed in Greece.
- What would you say to those Lithuanians who have questioned the need to start paying compensations now, some 70 years after the Holocaust, for what was done during the rule of Nazi Germany?
- I am glad your parliament and government adopted the law and showed the sign of taking responsibility for the historical mistakes that were made by the national socialist regime.
It is important to say that it took a very long time for Germany to start paying compensations, as the state lacked political will to acknowledge the victims and its historic commitments. It took decades. Our foundation was established as late as in 2000. The compensation law does not change Germany's obligations. Adoption of the law in Lithuania indicates that people of Lithuania also had a hand in the Holocaust. With this step, the Lithuanian state demonstrates its responsibility for its citizens who were harmed and shows it was not forgetting the victims.
It is a responsibility of an individual state. Every country in Europe should take the responsibility, as it was involved in the Holocaust – let it be Estonia, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, or France. All countries that were accomplices or were involved in the Holocaust otherwise should take responsibility and pass relevant decisions.
- These issues have to do with the attitudes of current governments and current people towards history. Do you think Europe's attitudes on history has drawn closer over the past decades or do many differences remain?
- During the Cold War, no intellectual exchange in ideas took place in Europe as to the harm caused by the national socialists, the essence and consequences of Communism. The issues were first raised 20 years ago. This coincided with the emergence of a common European identity. Europe then started searching for common history. This led to emergence or independence of countries, such as Lithuania and other Baltic states, Ukraine. Countries started identifying themselves and their role in history, as well as their values. They started asking questions about their role - whether they were victims or perpetrators of crimes.
The Eastern and Western world views national socialism differently, with the understanding depending on state policies. After the Cold War ended, the question was raised about wether some countries were victims of the regime or perpetrators of crimes. The question has been discussed for 20 years and we still do not have a definite answer.
To summarize, I can say that every country should find a national answer as to its role in history. Secondly, there should be a common European answer about the role that Europe as a whole and every single country had in this shared history. This second aspect and common answer that has to be found on the European level has become increasingly important over the past years. By establishing the foundation for the victims, Lithuania is taking an important step on the national and the European level.
- Do you think Russia should compensate for the damages caused during the occupation of the Baltic states?
- I don't know whether it is realistic to receive a compensation. But it is a matter that should be evaluated form the moral and political point of view. I think, yes, Russia should take responsibility for the harm that was caused. We know and see how difficult it is to put it into practice. Another question is whether the compensation should be paid by Russia alone or by all countries that were part of the Soviet Union at the time, for example, the specific country that nationalized properties should give it back to specific people. There is probably no lawfully possible way, but this is the moral way of doing it.
To many victims who received compensations – we paid compensations to 1.66 million victims – money was not the most important thing. It was a symbol of the country's recognition of harm and apology. The sums paid are not important, what is important is that the state recognizes the damage and compensates for it decades later.
- Do you see a threat of the European economic crisis spreading marginal nationalist and extremist ideas, as well as stepping up anti-Semitic sentiments?
- Yes, I see a threat. However, it is not an automatic process that will keep on going. It will depend on how we address the complex European matters. Severe economic crises trigger the emergence of extremist ideas and require relevant political decisions. This is why it is so important today to keep the society from falling apart and emergence of the things that happened back then – when national socialist ideas and anti-Semitism gained a foothold. We see how Greece now portrays Germany as a country that brings evil. (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel is pictured as Hitler with swastikas, etc. This shows intensification of nationalist sentiments in Greece, along with some features we saw back then.
There is the potential for emergence of such ideas and anti-Semitism. However, it all depends on how we manage to handle the crisis.
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Last year, Lithuania's parliament passed a law on Good Will Compensation for the Real Estate of Jewish Religious Communities. According to it, 128 million litas (EUR 36.5m) will be transferred to the fund within a decade. The money will be used for religious, cultural, health, sports, educational, and research projects of the Jewish community in Lithuania.
From the sum, a single payment of 3 million litas will have to be used as aid to individual Jews who lived in Lithuania during World War II and suffered from the totalitarian regimes.
A foundation was set up in April to manage the compensations.
Lithuania's Jewish community hopes that the first payments will reach recipients by the end of this year. The preliminary list includes more than 1,000 people, the majority of whom reside in Lithuania.
