Latvian Justice Minister Resigns In Protest Over Proposed Holocaust Restitution

European Jewish Press reported yesterday that in Latvia, Justice Minister Gaidis Berzins resigned Thursday in protest of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis’ announced plans to create a commission to investigate paying restitution to families of Latvian Jews who property was taken during the Holocaust. Berzins, leader of the right-wing All For Latvia-For Fatherland and Freedom party, says that the proposal places the interests of one minority group over that of others.  The restitution issue has been divisive in Latvia for a number of years. In 2006, Parliament blocked a bill that would have paid $55 million in restitution.  Many Latvians argue that the current government should not be responsible for war crimes and property seizures carried out when the country was under Nazi, and then Soviet, control.