Agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on German war graves in the Republic of Lithuania
The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Desiring to create a final settlement for German war graves located within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania,
Anxious to to ensure the preservation and maintenance of these graves in a dignified manner and in accordance with the provisions of applicable international humanitarian law, in implementation of paragraph 13 of the Joint Declaration of July 21, 1993, on the basis of the relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Lithuania, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Agreement, the terms below shall have the following meanings:
a) “German war dead”:
- members of the German armed forces,
- persons equated with them under German law,
- other persons of German nationality who died in connection with the events of the 1914/1918 war or the 1939/1945 war or after their deportation;
b) “German war graves”:
the graves of German war dead lying within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania;
c) “German war graves sites”:
the cemeteries or parts of cemeteries in which German war dead are buried, which still exist, can be found or are to be newly established within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 2
(1) The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall ensure the protection of German war graves and the permanent right of rest for German war dead on its sovereign territory and shall prohibit the construction and erection of all facilities in the vicinity of German war graves which are incompatible with the dignity of these sites.
(2) The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany shall have the right to arrange for and maintain German war graves and cemeteries in the Republic of Lithuania at its own expense.
Article 3
(1) The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall transfer the property used for the purposes stated in Article 2, paragraph 2, free of charge, both now and in the future, and for an unlimited period of time, for use as permanent resting places for German war dead.
(2) Property rights shall not be affected by this Agreement. Any changes deemed necessary to the boundaries of properties used as German war gravesites shall be settled by mutual agreement between the Contracting Parties or the agencies designated by them. If, by agreement between the Contracting Parties, a property is no longer used, in whole or in part, for the intended purpose, this change shall result in the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany losing the right to use it.
(3) Should a property according to paragraph 1 be needed for another use for compelling public reasons, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall make available to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany another suitable property as a war graves site and shall bear the costs for the reburial of the dead and for the preparation of the new graves. The selection of the new property, its preparation and the implementation of the reburial shall be carried out by mutual agreement.
Article 4
(1) The Government of the Republic of Lithuania, without incurring any costs and after having received a plan for prior approval, permits the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to consolidate the graves of German war dead whose reburial the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany considers necessary. The exhumation of German war dead will be carried out by personnel named by the German side. The German side will inform the locally competent Lithuanian authority about the reburials it plans to carry out; the Lithuanian side may request to be present during the work.
(2) A protocol is to be drawn up for each reburial of a German war dead, stating the old and new grave location, the personal details of the buried person, insofar as they could be identified, the inscription on the dog tag or other features that may serve to identify them.
(3) Insofar as it can be proven that formerly existing German war gravesites on Lithuanian soil have been abandoned due to infrastructure changes that have occurred in the meantime and the German dead buried there can no longer be recovered, the government of the Republic of Lithuania shall, at the request of the German side, permit the establishment of memorials in a simple and dignified form at these former locations. The government of the Republic of Lithuania shall provide suitable land for this purpose.
(4) Insofar as a provisional burial of German war dead found on Lithuanian soil is required to enable a final burial at a German war grave site, the government of the Republic of Lithuania shall make arrangements for their proper and dignified provisional burial and for the marking of the graves.
Article 5
If there are graves other than German war graves on German war gravesites, this fact shall be given due consideration in decisions regarding the preservation and maintenance of these graves.
Article 6
(1) The transfer of German war dead from the territory of the Republic of Lithuania to the Federal Republic of Germany shall require the prior consent of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall permit such a transfer only if this consent has been obtained.
(2) The consent of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is also required for applications to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for the purpose of transferring German war dead to third countries.
(3) All costs for the disinterment and transfer of German war dead abroad shall be borne by the applicants.
(4) If the competent authority of either of the two Parties so requests, the reburial may only take place in the presence of one of its representatives.
Article 7
(1) The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany commissions the “Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.” (hereinafter referred to as the “Volksbund”) with the technical implementation of the tasks in the Republic of Lithuania that arise for the German side from this Agreement.
(2) In the event that the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany wishes to commission another organization, agreement shall be reached between the Contracting Parties.
(3) The Government of the Republic of Lithuania reserves the right to entrust a Lithuanian institution with the technical implementation of the tasks arising from this Agreement for the Lithuanian side.
Article 8
(1) The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall afford the VOLKSBUND every possible assistance, in particular access to records held by all authorities and other institutions now or in future available concerning German war graves and deceased German soldiers. Other agreements and arrangements shall remain unaffected.
(2) In order to carry out its tasks, the VOLKSBUND may send representatives, specialists and other personnel to the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 9
(1) The VOLKSBUND shall, wherever possible, use local labor and materials in accordance with the conditions prevailing in free competition when carrying out the work arising in the implementation of this Agreement.
(2) The VOLKSBUND may also import into and re-export from the Federal Republic of Germany or another Member State of the European Union to the Republic of Lithuania equipment, means of transport, materials and accessories necessary for the work referred to in this Agreement.
(3) The following shall apply to the customs clearance of these goods:
(a) temporarily imported equipment and means of transport shall be cleared through customs upon their import into the Republic of Lithuania on an import-export customs declaration, with the proviso that the said equipment and means of transport shall be re-exported after completion of the work;
(b) Materials and equipment intended for the construction, ornamentation or maintenance of graves, memorials or cemeteries shall be admitted free of import duties if, in addition to the regular import declaration, the customs authorities are presented with:
- an exact list of the imported goods,
- a declaration of commitment, signed by a duly authorized person, containing the binding assurance that the said goods will be used only for the purposes provided for in this Agreement.
Article 10
1) The permission to use the properties serving as German war graves sites, agreed in accordance with Article 3 (1), shall authorize the VOLKSBUND to carry out directly, within the framework of the relevant Lithuanian legal provisions, all work on the war graves sites for their preparation and beautification, as well as the construction of suitable access roads, recreation rooms and other facilities for visitors, with the consent of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
(2) The VOLKSBUND shall comply with the laws and other legal provisions of the Republic of Lithuania in the technical implementation of this Agreement.
Article 11
This Agreement shall enter into force one month after the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other that the necessary domestic requirements for entry into force have been met.
Done at Bonn, July 4, 1996, in two copies, each in the German and Lithuanian languages, each text being equally authentic.
For the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany Kinkel
For the Government of the Republic of Lithuania Gylys