In the castle of Joseph GOEBBELS and that of Joachim von RIBBENTROP were found works of art including gold bars, silverware and paintings from museums or private collections.
After the Jewish round-up of July 15, 1942 in Gironde, Lower Pyrenees and Landes, the Jews of these regions were locked up in the Mérignac camp. That’s where inventories were done to list their assets. Interview with Michel SLITINSKY, historian and member of the association "Sons and daughters of Jewish deportees", about the relay taken by the French administration which also put in place a policy of humiliation and spoliation unprecedented.
Alain JUPPE announced the creation of a working group to assess the extent of Jewish property taken over during the Second World War. An inventory must be completed. Lucien MESMAN recounts the fate of his family, robbed of his property. His family fled Paris leaving the furniture and valuables. They had nothing after the war. Testimony of Henri-Claude BLOCH, former president of the Jewish religious association of Dijon, whose parents could not recover the store. They finally found their belongings. Interview with Simon SIBONY about the collaboration of the French government with Nazism.
Interview with Annette WIEVIORKA, historian member of the Mattéoli mission: "In the camp of Drancy was opened a fund of the camp where were recorded the sums of money and objects that the detainees deposited... An accountant, Maurice Kiffer, meticulously kept the accounts of these funds... But at the Liberation, only a tiny part of rights holders, detainees and deportees could claim his money... Only 177 accounts out of several thousand were returned, which is ridiculous..."
Professor Ady Steg, Vice President of the Matteoli Mission, stresses that spoliation was not only material. It deprived Jews of their livelihoods, making them vulnerable, exposing them to hunting, arrest and deportation; Plunder was in fact a step along the whole line from enumeration to marginalization, marking, parcelling and finally deportation and extermination.
The EISENSTEIN family was a victim of plunder during the Second World War and began a compensation process three years ago. One of the grandfathers died in deportation; His apartment had been completely looted. The MATTEOLI Commission, chaired by Pierre DRAI, receives and responds to individual requests. The case of Suzanne CHOURAKI’s mother is a priority given her age.
Interview with Henri MORGENSTERN, the son of a deportee: "My mother made requests on stamped paper after the war and at the time when the photocopier did not exist. She had everything validated at the town hall and despite her requests she was dismissed... She has never received a penny of that money, yet it has been received and kept in the deposit box." Interview of Paul ORLOWSKI leafing through the compensation file: "I request financial aid, reparation..."
Fanny arrived in Paris on May 21, 1945 She is an orphan and her family’s apartment is occupied. She was unable to recover the belongings of her Jewish parents who had been arrested in the round-up of the Vesl of hiv. For lack of money to pay the lawyers and for lack of evidence she gave up. The laws of the post-war period provided for restitution but if there had been no claim after 30 years the State could recover the funds. This is known as 30-year lapse.
Justice has ruled on the painting "The accomplishment" of the painter Gustav Klimt, exhibited at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg. The work does not belong to the city, which had bought it in 1959. This work was finally returned to an Austrian Jewish family that had been robbed during the Second World War. The Colmar Court of Appeal thus confirmed this morning a judgment rendered at first instance.
On the occasion of the ceremonies commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the Scoop of Hiv, the President of the Republic, Jacques CHIRAC, for the first time recognized the responsibility of the French State in the deportation and extermination of Jews during the Second World War. Comment on factual images and excerpts from J. CHIRAC’s speech to representatives of the Jewish community.
The INA Galaxy 
