The JUST Act Report: Uruguay

The Department is unaware of any reports of Holocaust-era immovable property restitution claims in Uruguay.

The Department knows of no reports of Nazi-confiscated or looted art or other reports of movable property restitution claims in the country.  There is no restitution law in place for looted cultural property.

According to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and the World Jewish Restitution Organization, Uruguay received 1,670 books from the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, an organization established by the Conference on Jewish Relations in April 1947 to collect and distribute heirless Jewish property in the American occupied zone of Germany after World War II.  Jewish organizations note Uruguay does not appear to be conducting provenance research.

The Department has received no reports related to the issue of access to archival documents in relation to the ownership of Holocaust-era assets in Uruguay.

Uruguay commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day every January 27.  In 2019, in its first session on January 25, the parliament held a special session commemorating the Holocaust.  In addition, since 2012, a high-ranking government official delivers a nationally broadcast TV and radio address each year in memory of victims.  There is a Holocaust memorial and a Holocaust museum in the country.

The Holocaust is part of the primary and secondary school curricula, and there is a mandatory seminar on the Holocaust in teachers’ training curriculum.  The Plan Ceibal (a nationwide, digital educational platform) included an app to educate high school students about the Holocaust.  The government has also taken actions aimed at protecting memorial sites in response to a few cases of vandalism that have occurred.

The Fundacion Tzedaka del Uruguay in Montevideo is the social welfare partner of the Claims Conference in Uruguay.  The agency provides social services for vulnerable Jewish victims of the Holocaust era, including home care and an emergency assistance program.