The Commission (CIVS), which held sessions overseas twice in 2006, in the United States

and Israel, will be in New York for the third time from April 28 to May 5, 2007 in order to examine approximately 80 claims from Americans who had lived in France and were victims of spoliations during World War II.

The sessions will be held at the Consulate General of France, and claimants will have the option of attending in person or being represented. This mission, like the previous ones, is a clear demonstration to authorities in this country of the French government’s determination to compensate appropriately and definitively spoliations in France resulting from anti-Semitic legislation.

The CIVS, established by decree of September 10, 1999, recalls that its purpose is to enlighten victims and their families about what happened to the assets taken from them, to search for them and offer reparation, restitution or compensation measures appropriate to each case. Any victim or heir of a victim who suffered material or financial damage is justified in seeking compensation through the Commission.

Since being founded, the Commission had registered 23,591 claims as of March 31, 2007; of these, 15,647 concerned material losses and 7,944 bank-related losses. 22,208 claims were submitted to the decision-making members and were awarded compensation totaling 327,868,273 euros. The average value of the compensation awarded to victims is 21,279 euros per material claim and 4,998 euros per bank-related claim.

Nearly a hundred new claims covering all losses were filed each month last year and still continue to be received.

Contacts: Mr. Yann Battefort
Consulate General de France a New York
Press Attaché
Yann.Battefort @diplomatie.gouv.fr
Tel.: (00) 1 212 606 3625

M. Samuel Saiz
Communications Officer
ssaiz @civs.gouv.fr
civs.gouv.fr
Tel.: 01 56 52 85 03

From outside France:
00 33 1 56 52 85 03

CIVS
20 avenue de Ségur
75007 Paris