Application for one-time payment

PE The Foundation for Disposal of Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities

Pylimo street 4, LT-01117 Vilnius, Lithuania

Company‘s code 302702699

www.gvf.lt

February 2023

Beginning in 1991, the Republic of Lithuania passed a series of laws that addressed the restitution of private immovable property that was nationalized or otherwise illegally expropriated during the period of occupation by the totalitarian regimes. These laws made eligibility contingent on current Lithuanian citizenship, and effectively excluded most Holocaust survivors, and their families, who no longer lived in Lithuania. In response, the Republic of Lithuania recently amended Law No. XI-1470 of the Republic of Lithuania on the Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities, dated January 1, 2023 (hereinafter, the Law), for the purpose of mitigating some of the historical injustices caused to Holocaust victims as a result of restrictive, complicated, and evolving citizenship laws. In the Law, the Republic of Lithuania committed to pay a one-time symbolic payment to eligible Lithuanian Jews or their heirs whose property was not returned in the context of valid restitution legislation. Pursuant to the Law, the Republic of Lithuania has provided 5-10 million Euros to fulfil this goal. The Good Will Foundation (GWF) was designated as the entity responsible for administering the fund and distributing the funds to eligible applicants.

The exact amount to be distributed to each individual can only be calculated when the total number of approved applicants has been determined.

The following persons are eligible to apply for this program:

• Original owners, defined as:
  • Persons of Jewish descent who lived in Lithuania at any time prior to May 8, 1945; and
  • Owned property that was nationalized or otherwise illegally expropriated during the period of occupation by totalitarian regimes between June 15, 1940 and March 10, 1990; and
  • Did not have the legal opportunity to restore property rights in accordance with legislation in the Republic of Lithuania (*1), because they were non-citizens of the Republic of Lithuania between June 18, 1991 and December 31, 2001.
• Heirs to original owners, in accordance with the 1997 Law on the Restoration of Property Rights: (*2)
  • Where there is no surviving original owner, the spouse, parents (adoptive parents), or children (adopted children) of the original owner can submit an application, and in event of their death, the grandchildren of the original owner or the grandchild’s spouse can submit an application.
  • Applications can also be submitted by heirs stipulated in the will of the original owner, and in the event of their death, their spouse, parents (adoptive parents), children (adopted children), grandchildren, or grandchild’s spouse can also submit an application.

*1 See: Law on the Procedure and Conditions of the Restoration of the Rights of Ownership to the Existing Real Property, (18 June 1991, No. I-1454), available at: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.1445?jfwid.

*2 See Law on the Restoration of Property Rights of Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania to Surviving Real Estate, (1 July 1997, VIII-359) at Article 2, available at: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.41505/asr. Note that references to citizenship are no longer applicable.

The following types of immovable real property are eligible for symbolic compensation:

1. Structure(s) used for economic and commercial purposes.
2. Residential houses, together with their appurtenances.
3. Apartments, together with their appurtenances.

Land is not eligible for symbolic compensation.

COMPLETED APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED AT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES BY DECEMBER 31, 2023:

The one-time payment may be taxable and may affect your ability to obtain or maintain government assistance. It is your responsibility to verify if this payment is taxable and if it will affect government benefits or assistance. GWF will not be liable for any lost status, benefits or income resulting from your acceptance of this one-time payment.

No application received by the GWF after the December 31, 2023 deadline will be considered for payment. Payments to approved applicants are expected to be made by July 1, 2025

You do not need to pay anyone for this application form, and you are not required to obtain assistance in completing and/or submitting this application form. For assistance, please call the Good Will Foundation at +370 5 261 12 59 or email rolandas@gvf.lt or natalija@gvf.lt if you have questions.

Thank you for your careful attention to the requirements described in this letter.

Sincerely,

Section 1: Personal information

Applicant

Details of original owner (if not the same as applicant)

If the original owner is deceased:

Section 2: Eligibility

Please read the statements below carefully and check the appropriate answers

OR

AND (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

AND

AND

Section 3: Information about other heirs

Section 4: Information about the illegally expropriated immovable property

Location of the real estate (information from the cadaster, kept by the regional land registry office

Section 5: Supporting documents to be included in application

Please attach a photocopy of all relevant documentation corroborating information presented in this application and indicate below all documents that will be included. Any foreign language documents must be translated into Lithuanian or English.

This list is not exhaustive, and applicants do not need to have a copy of every one of these items.

This list is not exhaustive, and applicants do not need to have a copy of every one of these items.

This list is not exhaustive, and applicants do not need to have every one of these items.

Where the original owner’s spouse or children are also deceased, a valid document confirming this fact must also be supplied.

Section 6: Payment information

If your application is approved, your one-time payment will be sent by WIRE TRANSFER to the account you specify. No checks can be issued. Applicants must be alive at time of application. If you need assistance with your bank information, please contact your bank. Bank account must be in your name. Bank must not be under USA or EU sanctions. Payment will be made from a Euro account.

IF POSSIBLE, INCLUDE A VOID CHECK OR A SIGNED DOCUMENT FROM YOUR BANK TO CONFIRM THE DETAILS.

FOR BANKS IN USA

ALL OTHER COUNTRIES

You may need an INTERMEDIARY OR CORRESPONDENT BANK to accept wire transfers.

Additional for Banks in Canada ONLY

Additional for Banks in Australia ONLY

Additional for Banks in United Kingdom (UK) ONLY

Section 7: Declarations

• I declare that all above statements are true. I am aware that knowingly making untrue statements will result in a rejection. Positive decisions made on false information will be overturned and I will return the full amount paid to me by the GWF.
• In the event that I am obligated, pursuant to this declaration or otherwise, to return payment to GWF, I hereby agree that I shall also be liable to reimburse the GWF for any costs and expenses incurred by the GWF in obtaining the return of such payments.
• I am aware that I have no legal entitlement to receive this assistance. Without derogating from the above, I irrevocably waive — insofar as this is legally admissible — any claim that I have or may later assert against the GWF relating to or connected with this application or the processing thereof.
• I unconditionally agree that Vilnius, Lithuania is the court of exclusive jurisdiction for this program.
• I agree that the GWF may request additional documents and information from me to process my application.

Section 8: Consent

I authorize the authorities, courts, archives and institutions in Lithuania, Germany, and abroad to grant the GWF access to my compensation files, including those based on the Bundesentschädigungsgesetz, the laws and provisions of Wiedergutmachung of the German State Governments, or German Federal or State hardship funds for victims of national socialist persecution, to provide information necessary for the examination and execution of my application. I authorize the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) to share information and documents relating to me with the GWF.

I am aware that these documents and the information may include the following categories of personal information: Name, Address, Age, Date of birth, Gender, education, profession, personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political or ideological opinions, religious beliefs or union membership and data concerning health.

I understand that information concerning me collected in this form, and the other individuals referred to on this form (“Third Parties”) will be processed in accordance with GWF privacy notice which can be found at https://gvf.lt/en/about-us/privacy-policy/. I confirm that I have made these Third Parties aware of this notice and have their permission for the Claims Conference, and any third parties set out in the notice, to process their personal information in this application form.

The processing of these data serves the purpose of processing my application for compensation from the Lithuania Fund.

I understand that personal data processed in connection with this application may be made available to the Claims Conference for the purpose of processing my application.

Information relating to my ethnic and racial origins, religious beliefs, and health is considered to be special category data under European data protection law (“Sensitive Personal Data”). We require your express consent under European data protection law to process Sensitive Personal Data.

By signing below, I hereby expressly accept that in order to determine my eligibility for this compensation program and receive payment:

• My Sensitive Personal Data, as needed, shall be processed by the GWF to determine my eligibility for compensation from the Lithuania Fund.
• My Sensitive Personal Data, as needed, shall be shared with the Claims Conference.
• As needed, my personal data and Sensitive Personal Data collected in this form shall be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.

I understand I have the right to withdraw my consent at any time. To withdraw my consent, to exercise my rights under the privacy notice or to make any complaints I understand I should contact the GWF at info@gvf.lt. The revocation of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of the processing which has been carried out on the basis of the consent until its revocation. If I withdraw my consent, I understand that the GWF may not be able to process my application or comply with its obligations required to make any payment.

Section 9: Signature

A copy of the ID used to verify the identity must be included with this application. If an applicant is unable to sign this application form, an authorized representative may sign on his/her behalf and a photocopy of the Power of attorney must be included in this Application.

PLEASE CHECK THAT ALL SECTIONS ARE COMPLETE, THE APPLICATION IS SIGNED, AND SUBMIT TO ONE OF THE ADDRESSES BELOW. COMPLETED APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 31, 2023.

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE PROCESSED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

You can no longer apply.