Resources
Resources
The Rose Valland site firstly provides a directory of MNR works held in French museums, and secondly, historical documentation consisting of reference material, a selection of French legal texts and major international conventions, as well as a page with links to French and foreign websites.
Site Rose-Valland - Musées Nationaux Récupération (National Museums for Recovery)
Guide to archival research to identify and describe the various collections kept in France that may provide information relating to the spoliation and recovery of cultural property.
https://francearchives.fr/fr/section/82632085
Eight databases, available online, are a valuable resource for conducting verifications :
In addition, a database is specifically dedicated to books spoliated :
http://www.memorialdelashoah.org/archives-et-documentation/le-centre-de-documentation/les-archives-du-memorial/les-bibliotheques-spoliees.html
See the page on this subject on the Ministry of Culture website
In 2017, the CIVS and the Conseil des Ventes Volontaires (CVV - the public regulatory authority for auctions in France) published a Vade Mecum to assist operators of voluntary public auctions.
The Vade Mecum establishes a procedure to guide public auction operators faced with this situation. Any operator who identifies spoliated property must withdraw it from sale. The operator may, via the CVV, refer the matter to the CIVS in order to verify that no claim for restitution or compensation has been made to it in respect of the property being offered for sale. The verification made by the CIVS does not definitively confirm the non-spoliated nature of the property, but it does constitute an additional check. In addition, the CVV is at the disposal of operators to provide them with information as part of the work it carries out. The Vade Mecum is available on the CVV website, and can also be downloaded from the CIVS website.