Prime Minister of
the Czech Republic
In
Prague, July 19, 2001
Ref. No.: 30532101
- LRY
Baroness Sarah Ludford
Member of the European Parliament
36 St. Peter's Street
London, N1 8IT
U.K.
Dear baroness,
1 have carefully studied your opinion
in respect of legal regulations of the Czech Republic adopted in the effort
to mitigate the consequences of some injuries to property and other cases of
injustice, which occurred in the period between 1948 and 1989.
Regretfully, 1 must inform you that 1
am unable to take a stand on the matter of the possible restitution of the
property of Dr. Alfred Hirsch mentioned in your letter, as 1 am not informed of
the important facts necessary in order to assess the relevant matter; your
letter does not include such information.
Nevertheless, 1 would like to assure
you, dear baroness, that 1 still consider the issue of remedy of the injuries
to property to be very serious, and 1 pay special attention to it. In
connection therewith, let me inform you that the Czechoslovak Federal Republic
(Československá
federativnī republika), or subsequently
the Czech Republic is the only post-communist country that performed - as a
result of the substantial societal changes after 1989 - a massive remedy of
injuries/torts caused by the communist regime and for that purpose adopted a
large number of rehabilitation and restitution laws. The Czech Republic can
undoubtedly be considered the only European country that has dealt with the
injuries to property caused by holocaust to its Jewish citizens.
The citizenship condition, which is not included in
all the relevant legal regulations, has been repeatedly a subject to
examination by the Constitution Court of the Czech Republic as well as the
European Human Rights Court, and both institutions have agreed that the
citizenship condition is legitimate.
I also consider it necessary to
inform you and your voters that there is a legislation adopted in 1990
and subsequently in 1999, which made it substantially easier to regain the
citizenship for the former citizens of this country who lost it in the period
from February 25, 1948 to March 28, 1990, and they were even able to regain the
citizenship without having to lose their current citizenship. Compensation of
the injuries to property caused to the victims of holocaust or their
descendants who cannot be - due to the absence of the condition of Czech
citizenship - included in the restitution according to the applicable laws is
taken care of by the establishment of the Foundation Fund for the Victims of
Holocaust at the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, to
which the Czech Republic contributed an amount of CZK 300,000,000. The address
of the Foundation Fund for the Victims of Holocaust is:
Nadačnī
fond obĕtem holocaustu
Legerova 2411853
120 00 Praha 2
Czech Republic
Yours sincerely,
Miloš Zeman