“Nothing is planned for these itinerants in terms of compensation,” criticized lawyer Olivier Le Mailloux. “We request access to the compensation commission to assert your rights to the restitution of seized assets,” he told AFP after the hearing in the highest administrative court.
On April 6, 1940, by decree during the war, nomads were confined in camps. Between 6,000 and 6,500 were placed until 1946 in about thirty camps controlled by French authorities.
His assets and personal belongings were seized by the French police, the lawyer explained.
The plaintiffs, including the Union for the Active Defense of Reasons for the Fair (UDAF) and the association France Liberté Voyage, request the annulment of the decree of 10 September 1999, which created a commission to compensate victims of looting in due to anti-Semitic legislation in force during the occupation.
“There is an equality gap depending on the victims”, for Le Mailloux. Applicants ask for the inclusion of anti-nomadic legislation in this decree.
The public rapporteur for the Council of State, whose opinion is generally considered, decided to reject the request.
In the court of the Council of State was Henriette Théodore, an 88-year-old gypsy, who was sent to a concentration camp with her family from 1941 to 1945.
“In the Montreuil-Bellay camp (western France), they treated us like animals,” he told AFP. “When we left, we had nothing else. They took everything from us,” he added.
This appeal to the Council of State represents “a symbolic step, through memory”, he explained. The decision will be made after deliberation.
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