The executive chairman of the Central Union, Fero Alexander, said the commission’s main focus should be on the 70,000 Slovak Jews who died in the Holocaust.
“We are talking about principles here, about the properties of those who were murdered,” he said.
The commission will be chaired by Slovakia’s deputy prime minister, Pal Csaky. It is expected to meet for the first time at the end of September, after enabling legislation passes Parliament.
The panel’s first task will be to assess the value of seized properties. Both the government and Jewish leaders have agreed not to discuss figures publicly, but it is believed that the value of stolen properties could run into the tens of millions of dollars.
Given the potentially huge sums involved, Slovak Jewish representatives have conceded that a compromise will have to be reached.
Csaky said the commission should produce a report by the end of the year, for consideration by the government in January. Compensation payments could begin some time next year.
“The creation of a commission is important because there is a debt to be paid against history,” said Csaky’s personal advisor and press spokesman, Peter Miklosi, referring to the tens of thousands of Slovak Jews killed in the war.
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