Opening a case-file
Published on 25/03/2024 - Updated on 17/04/2024
The CIVS, the Commission for the Restitution of Property and the Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliations, rules on anti-Semitic spoliations and recommends the appropriate reparation, restitution or compensation measures, under the conditions set out in decree no. 2024-11 of 5 January 2024.
Using the forms available on this page, you can refer your case to the CIVS if :
- case 1: you are a victim of spoliation, or the beneficiary of a victim ;
- case no. 2: you own cultural property likely to have been spoliated.
CASE No. 1
YOU ARE A VICTIM OF SPOLIATION OR THE ASSIGNED RIGHT OF A VICTIM
You are a victim of spoliations resulting from anti-Semitic persecution, or you are the heir of a victim. This form enables you to refer the matter to the CIVS, so that it can recommend the appropriate reparation, restitution or compensation measures.
The completed form, signed and accompanied by the documents indicated, must be sent to the CIVS by e-mail - renseignement@civs.gouv.fr - or by post: CIVS, 20 AVENUE DE SEGUR, TSA 20718, 75334 PARIS CEDEX 07, FRANCE. This is equivalent to a referral to the Commission.
Any victim of material or financial anti-Semitic spoliation that occurred in France between 1940 and 1944, or any heir of that victim, may file a claim with the CIVS, regardless of their country of residence.
The CIVS is also competent to examine cases of anti-Semitic spoliation of cultural property committed between 1933 and 1945 in a country influenced by Nazi Germany, when the cultural property is now in France in public collections or similar. Any victim of such spoliation, or any beneficiary of such a victim, may therefore also refer the matter to the CIVS.
Claimants must state the nature of the spoliations claimed, so that the CIVS can initiate research in the appropriate archive collections. Formal proof is not required.
The claimant may act personally or on behalf of other victims or heirs of victims (children, brothers, sisters, etc.). The CIVS brings together under a single file several claims made separately by several members of the same family, and which concern the same spoliation.
The procedure is free of charge and requires no special formalities. Referral to the CIVS may be made by a third party designated by the claimant and given a mandate. The assistance of a lawyer is not required.
CASE 2
YOU HOLD CULTURAL PROPERTY WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN SPOLIATED
You (museum, library, private individual, etc.) have one (or more) items of cultural property that may have been spoliated in the context of anti-Semitic persecution, and the question of its (their) restitution has arisen. This form enables you to refer the matter to the CIVS in order to obtain a ruling under the conditions set out in decree no. 2024-11 of 5 January 2024.
The completed form, signed and accompanied by the documents indicated, must be sent to the CIVS by e-mail - renseignement@civs.gouv.fr - or by post: CIVS, 20 AVENUE DE SEGUR, TSA 20718, 75334 PARIS CEDEX 07, FRANCE. This is equivalent to a referral to the Commission.
The CIVS is competent to examine, on its own initiative or at the request of the person concerned, cases of anti-Semitic spoliation of cultural property committed between 1933 and 1945 in a country influenced by Nazi Germany, when the cultural property is now in France in public collections or similar.