Hillary Clinton Urges Latvian Govt To Return Jewish Property

In Riga on Thursday, Hillary Clinton urged Latvia to return several hundred previously seized properties -- including schools, synagogues and communal buildings -- to Jewish organizations “quickly and fairly.”

The properties were seized by the Soviets in 1940 from families of the 80,000 Jews killed during the Nazi occupation of Latvia. Most of them were handed back after Latvia's independence in 1991, but some communal Jewish properties stayed in state control.

The United States strongly supports restitution or compensation for those whose property was confiscated by either the Nazis or the Communists, Clinton said during her trip, which was also her record-breaking 100th official visit as Secretary of State.