Some 1,000,000,000 francs seized in 1941 by the Vichy Government from Jewish bank accounts and property holdings and remitted to the Paris as “compensation” for German soldiers killed in France, have not yet been restored to their rightful owners, it was learned today.
This amount was paid by French banks to the Caisse dos Depots et Consignations (special Treasury Department for money and property in trust), which still refuses to refund it for lack of instructions from the Government. The department’s offices are filled with thousands of files boaring the names of original Jewish owners. The sum seized by the Vichy Government is worth considerably less now as a result of the franc’s fluctuations.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.