Wiesenthal Centre to State Minister of Monaco: “Grant Access to Your Holocaust Period Archives as Closure of a Sorely Belated Moral Debt to History”

“On 27 January 2020, the world will mark the 75^th anniversary of theliberation of Auschwitz, probably the last chance for most Holocaust survivors to tell their stories or seek restitution.”...“If we, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, were to receive the entry into Monaco archives by this 75^th anniversary, this would help to provide a sorely belated closure for thefamilies of victims. A Monaco denial would be construed as a betrayal of its moral debt to history,

PARIS - In a letter to Monaco State Minister, Serge Telle, Wiesenthal CentreDirector for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, recalled the Centre’s 1997 organization in Geneva, of an international conference entitled “Looted Property and Restitution - The Moral Debt to History”.

“As a highly decorated French career diplomat, you are surely aware of the Commission pour l’Indemnisation des Victimes deSpoliations (CIVS), one of a series of European state restitution agencies, of which our conference was a precursor,” stated Samuels.

He added, “The CIVS, now marking its 20^th anniversary, includes on itswebsite a 12 February 2015 report from its Monaco counterpart, the CAVS (Commission pour l’Assistance aux Victimes de Spoliations), founded in 2006, that lists at least 92 Jews of thePrincipality who were arrested and deported. Apparently, between 1999 and 2019, the CIVS reviewed 5 claims for “spoliation” linked to both France and Monaco, but has not had access to the Monacoarchives.”

The Centre’s own research in open archives in the United States, Israel and Europe point to questions regarding the 1940 to 1945period in Monaco.

Among these archival traces, there is also the intriguing denial by Adolf Eichmann, during his 1961 trial, of any contact with Monacoofficials, despite evidence to the contrary found in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Our research so far has provided tangible evidence regarding:

VALUABLES:

The seizure of money, watches, jewellery, diamonds and other valuables of the Monaco Jews who were arrested and deported, of whichonly some 32 are listed in the “Drancy receipts,” the transit camp from where SNCF trains took them to Auschwitz (source: the Paris Shoah Memorial archives).

BANKS:

Similarly, Jewish accounts were presumably blocked in the banks operating in Monaco. As an example, German Occupation records in theFrench National Archives refer to two Jewish refugee families who deposited shares with Credit Mobilier de Monaco. Three named Monte Carlo Jewish residents had bank accounts blocked inSwitzerland according to a Swiss Bank list.

ARTWORKS AND LIBRARIES:

According to the OBIP (French post-War restitution services):we discovered the looting of 2 libraries containing 3,000 volumes, ofwhich 140 restituted in 1950 and the seizure of 24 cases full of books by the Germans in 1940 - reportedly claimed by the Director of Radio Monte Carlo - of which 57 books were restituted in1947. A German post-War restitution agency reveals claims for spoliated art objects, including in the name of Prince Albert of Monaco. The US register Lootedart.com points to at least 3collectors (1 deported), residing in Monte Carlo, but spoliated in Paris.

AUCTION SALES IN NICE:

Jews of Monaco were deported via Nice. The Alpes-Maritimes archives register at least 12 sales in Nice of “biens juifs” (Jewishassets) between January 1942 and December 1944.

Samuels urged the State Minister, “if there are so many indications available inso many different archives, would it not behoove Monaco to open its archives to qualified researchers?”... adding, “multiple sources provide names of Monaco Jews deported and spoliated wellbeyond the list provided by the CAVS 2015 report. Our researcher wrote to the CAVS secretariat in October. With a follow-up letter on December 4, the Director, Christian Ceyssac, displayed a lackof authority in regard to our request for access to Monaco World War II archives.”

The Centre stressed, “on 27 January 2020, the world will mark the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, probably the last chance for most Holocaust survivors to tell their stories or seek restitution.”

“If we, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, were to receive the entry into Monaco archives by this 75^th anniversary, this would help to provide a sorely belated closure for the families of victims. A Monaco denial,on the other hand, would be construed as a betrayal of its moral debt to history, concluded Samuels.

For further information, contact Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in theUnited States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament(Parlatino).