To
familiarize community activists with the range of issues
connected with the search for and return, renovation, and
use of community property, the JDC began to conduct regular
restitution seminars. The first seminar of this kind was
held in Odessa in 1992. This was followed by seminars in
Minsk and Omsk in 1994, St. Petersburg and Zaporozhie in
1995, Lvov in 1996, St. Petersburg, Vinnitsa, and Nalchik
in 1997, Vinnitsa and Odessa in 1998, one in Kiev in 1999,
three in St. Petersburg in 1999 and 2000, and one in Yaroslavl
in 2001. These seminars involved a total of 400 community
activists and consultants who were directly concerned with
various aspects of restitution.
The organizers of the seminars understood quite well that
the restitution and renovation of synagogues were inseparable
from the strengthening of local Jewish communities. For
this reason the seminars not only dealt with archival, legal,
and engineering questions and not only discussed specific
projects and provided individual consultations, but also
dealt with problems of community building. The seminars
also made clear that the very process of searching in archives
for information about former synagogue buildings could stimulate
the interest of young people in the Jewish history of their
city, uncover unknown documents and facts, provide the impetus
for the organization of an exhibition or museum, and, ultimately,
facilitate community solidarity. Joint community efforts
for the restitution of synagogues can also unify the community.
The restitution seminar
program always includes visits to returned synagogues, including
those in the process of restoration, in order to instill
optimism and confidence in community activists. In 1996,
with JDC support, film-makers in Kishinev made the video
“The Community Gains a Home,” which was first
shown at the seminar in Nalchik. The video includes interviews
with community activists who succeeded in overcoming bureaucratic
barriers and regained synagogue buildings.
Parallel to the organization of seminars, the JDC issued
instructional materials for people involved in problems
of restitution and renovation. The first “Guide for
the Return of Confiscated Jewish Communal Property”
was issued in June 1995. It contained advice by a historian,
a lawyer, and an engineer, as well as the texts of laws
and government decisions about restitution. This was followed
by guides devoted to specific questions, e.g. archival searches,
renovation, etc. Five such practical guides have been published
thus far.