The European Shoah Legacy Institute, which is based in the Czech Republic, should become more narrowly focused and its financing and work should involve more countries than at present. Those are the proposals made by Jiří Čistecký, the Czech Government’s Special Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, in a report reviewed by the cabinet on 9 July.
The Institute was created in 2010 on the basis of the so-called Terezín Declaration, which was signed by 47 states during the Czech presidency of the EU in 2009. That document calls, among other things, for the restitution of real estate to Holocaust victims, the restitution of artworks stolen from Jewish people, improvements to the social situations of those who survived the Holocaust, and for the implementation of education and research projects into and commemorations of the topic of the Nazi murder of Jewish people during the Second World War.
According to Čistecký, since the Institute was founded it has been discovered that its thematic focus is partially covered by the missions of other organizations. In future, therefore, it should primarily focus on issues related to discovering and returning Jewish property and on ensuring the dignity of Holocaust survivors.
"[The Institute] wanted to become a political force advocating for restitution worldwide. However, that expectation was a bit exaggerated," the Special Envoy said.
"In that area we are now concentrating more on monitoring the situation in various countries and publishing reports about it, which – I believe – is more our specialty," Čistecký said. In his view the Institute should continue to focus on monitoring restitution in the future.
"As far as stolen art is concerned, the Institute has created a series of training programs for the staffs of auction houses, museums, and other facilities which it is now successfully implementing all over Europe, always in collaboration with the country holding the EU presidency. People are being trained in how to handle this type of art, how to identify it in general, and how to work with partners abroad," the Special Envoy said.
The third area of focus, according to Čistecký, should be the social situation of persons who survived the Holocaust. The Institute is planning to hold an international conference for ministers of social affairs at which they would pledge to take steps to help the remaining victims of Nazism.
"We have already designed the conference but it hasn’t been held yet, which I think is a shame because the survivors don’t have much time left," Čistecký noted. He has been in the newly-established post of Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues since February.
The Institute is financed from the budget of the Czech Foreign Ministry, which provided CZK 6 million for its operation this year. It is co-financed by Israel and the United States of America, each of which has contributed roughly the same amount of investment.
"In the future it will be necessary to involve more states," Čistecký emphasized. The Institute therefore is setting the goal next year of raising pledges of cooperation and financing from other countries for 2016.
"We want to involve other governments in Europe at a minimum in this project in the upcoming period. Their participation will determine what happens with the Institute in future," the Special Envoy said.
