The National Assembly unanimously passes a law to more easily restore works looted by the Nazis

This is a step forward for the restitution of works of art to Jewish victims of Nazism. The National Assembly approved, Thursday, June 29, a text to facilitate the restitution of goods and works of art of which the Jews were despoiled in France during the occupation by Nazi Germany, after already a first green light to the Senate. “Nothing can repair the tragedy of the Holocaust. But we can do everything in our power to ensure that these cultural assets can be returned“, and that the rights holders recover”a piece of family history“, defended the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul-Malak. “We also know that the French State, the one which governed from Vichy, entirely willing to collaborate (…) but also on its own initiative, proceeded to the Aryanization of thousandsof property, continued the minister.

The government text sets a framework for removing from museums works that were looted between January 30, 1933 (Hitler’s accession to power) and May 8, 1945 (Liberation), and returning them without having to resort to laws specific. The Assembly adopted it unanimously by the 77 voters, even if several elected officials deplored the lack of resources allocated to the services responsible for restitution.
One hundred thousand works would have been seized in France during the Second World War according to the ministry. Some 60,000 items found in Germany at the Liberation were sent back to France. 45,000 were quickly returned, and about 2,200 works were entrusted to national museums, under the name of “MNR works”.

A derogation from the principle of inalienability of public collections

The rest was sold by the administration of the Domains in the early 1950s, and many works returned to the market. However, unlike “MNR” works of art, the State can only launch the restitution of works that have entered public collections by adopting laws, to derogate from the principle of the inalienability of collections. The text proposes to endorse a derogation from this principle. However, the State will have to consult a special commission. The beneficiaries will be able to reach an amicable agreement on other terms of repair than restitution.

The debates, rather consensual, were briefly tense when the RN group proposed to clarify that the authority of the Vichy regime was “illegal and illegitimate”, elected leftists and the majority accusing it of wanting to minimize the role of the French state. Two other texts are on the job. The Senate adopted at first reading in mid-June a bill on the restitution of “human remains”, such as the Maori heads returned in 2010 to New Zealand. And Emmanuel Macron promised a text on the restitution of African cultural property.