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"A FIRST STEP IN RETURNING JEWISH HERITAGE FROM POLAND" SAID JEWISH AGENCY TREASURER HAIM CHESLER REGARDING THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN WORLD JEWISH RESTITUTION ORGANIZATION AND THE UNION OF JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN POLAND REGARDING THE RETURN OF JEWISH PROPERTY
 Right to left: Chaim Chesler, Treasurer of the Jewish Agency; Jerzy Kichler, Head of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland; Shevach Weiss, Israel's Ambassador to Poland; and Michael Schneider, Executive Vice President of AJJDC In a meeting at the Israeli Embassy in Warsaw today, Chaim Chesler, Treasurer of the Jewish Agency and leader of the World Jewish Restitution Organization's (WJRO) talks with the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland on the creation of a joint foundation to work to reclaim communal Jewish property confiscated during the Nazi period, updated the Israeli ambassador to Poland, Prof. Shevach Weiss, on progress on this issue. At the meeting, Chesler was accompanied by Michael Schneider, executive vice-president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and Jerzy Kichler, head of the Union. Chesler reported that WJRO and the Union had completed three days of productive discussions, the result of an agreement reached between the two sides some two weeks ago on the establishment of a common Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. The representatives of WJRO and the Union asked the ambassador to ask the Polish authorities to extend the deadline by which claims for property must be submitted. According to the current law, the period for filing claims expires in May 2002. Weiss assured his visitors that he would do everything he can to ensure that the deadline is extended, and praised the creation of the Foundation, saying that it was important progress in WJRO and the Union working together. At the board meeting of the Union later in the day, the agreement with WJRO was approved unanimously. In addressing the meeting, Chesler said that this approval "opened the way for the Jewish world to work together to reclaim its property. It is the first step in our joint efforts to reclaim a small bit of the wealth of the heritage of Polish Jewry."
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