Lithuania's parliament has begun discussing a bill calling for the reconstruction of the Vilnius Jewish quarter, a major center of European Jewish life before the 1941-44 Nazi occupation.

The proposal aims to restore some ghetto buildings that fell into disrepair over the past 60 years and completely rebuild others. The project, including rebuilding the entire Great Synagogue dynamited by the Nazis, would require foreign donations. Drafters of the bill refused to estimate final costs, saying only that Lithuania couldn't cover them alone. Lithuanian, French and Israeli architects—consulting detailed pre-war maps of the Jewish quarter—have already discussed how to carry out the plans. If the legislation passes, some work could begin as soon as December. Proponents say the rebuilt ghetto would help maintain a key part of the nation's heritage and would also be a major tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of Jews around the world who trace their roots back to Lithuania. Before World War II, Vilnius was a hub of Jewish culture, learning and political activism. Many people at the time referred to Vilnius, home of many influential rabbis and leading Zionists, as the "Jerusalem of the North." The ghetto, with its close-knit, 17th century buildings and narrow cobblestone streets, was also home to leading Jewish theaters, thriving Jewish publishing houses and the acclaimed Yiddish Institute of Higher Learning. But during the Nazi occupation, the district was circled by barbed wire fences and became a holding center for most of the city's 60,000 Jews. Virtually all the detainees were later executed by Nazi killing squads in a nearby forest.