Palais-Bourbon, Paris (France), Credit: Mbzt via Wikipedia
On June 29, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to pass a new law that makes it easier for public organizations to return objects that were stolen by the Nazis and are now in their collections. The new heritage code sets up a way for public collections to give back items and works of art to the heirs of the original Jewish owners without having to pass separate laws for each case, as was the case before. The law covers cultural items that have been proven to have been stolen or given away without permission between January 30, 1933 and May 8, 1945. The French Ministry of Culture says that around 100,000 works of art were taken "in the context of anti-Semitic persecution" during the Second World War. Up until now, France's heritage code, which calls museum collections "inalienable," has made it hard to reach compensation goals.
French President Emmanuel Macron has made restitution and repatriation, which mean giving back cultural property to people or countries, a top goal of his government. In a turning point for his presidency, the National Assembly overcame resistance from the French Senate last year to give the Republic of Benin ownership of 26 stolen royal artifacts from the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac and one object from the Army Museum that had been stolen from Senegal. The works were given up on the condition that they "continue to be kept and shown to the public in places that are set up for this cultural purpose." In her yearly New Year's speech on January 16, French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak said, "I hope 2023 will be a big year for restitutions." She also said that the country's attitude toward its past should be "neither one of denial nor one of repentance, but one of recognition."
Jean Dubreil