Members of the family of Grégoire Schusterman,
Madam Deputy, dear Fabienne COLBOC
Madam Deputy, dear Isabelle RAUCH,
Dear Louis NÈGRE, Mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer,
Deputy Mayor of Dieppe, dear Patricia RIDEL,
Ladies and Gentlemen Elected Officials,
Dear Pierre-François VEIL, President of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah,
Dear Michel JEANNOUTOT, Chairman of the Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Dispossession,
Dear Secretary General Luc ALLAIRE,
Dear Jean-François HEBERT, Director General of Heritage and Architecture,
Dear Isabelle ROME, Ambassador for Human Rights, in charge of the duty of remembrance relating to the international dimension of the Holocaust and spoliations,
Dear Sylvain AMIC, President of the Musée d'Orsay,
Dear Emeric PINKOWICZ, Director of the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer,
Dear Pierre ICKOWICZ, Director of the Dieppe Museum,
Ladies and gentlemen,
By standing in front of these two paintings today, we all share the same experience.
We look directly into the most tragic moments in our shared history.
Moments, as President Chirac said on 16 July 1995, “ that hurt memory, and the idea of one’s country ".
This story in which these two paintings were as if swallowed up, is that of the dark years of the Occupation and the Holocaust, that of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, that of plunder and forced sales, humiliation and theft.
And because these two paintings had become in spite of themselves traces of persecution and proof of injustice, it is with great emotion that, together today, we act of reparation.
***
And this act of reparation, he begins with the fact of naming the legitimate owner of his paintings.
His name is Grégoire Schusterman.
Art dealer born in Ukraine, he opened his gallery avenue Kléber in 1933. Madly in love with French painting, he bought many impressionist paintings, which he particularly admired.
But because he was born a Jew, Grégoire Schusterman is well aware of the danger that awaits him when Hitler’s army enters Paris. It must be said that it is in the front row, with the German Superior Military Command which settles in the Majestic Hotel, in front of its gallery.
German robbery and looting began in June 1940 for the largest Jewish merchants and collectors and the anti-Semitic acts of the Vichy Government began just as early.
Then Grégoire Schusterman took the lead and fled to avoid the coming persecutions. He closed his gallery and left Paris for Nice. Forced and forced, he separates from his paintings.
And it is in the trajectory of these two paintings that we can read the rest of the story and the double injustice that is experienced by Grégoire Schusterman.
First, it is the injustice of the forced sale, as revealed by the investigation conducted to establish the facts, and as the Commission for the compensation of victims of anti-Semitic spoliations.
Because yes, it must be said and affirmed, the forced sale, the sale under constraint, it is indeed a modality of spoliation.
And the second injustice is that of being rejected, after the war, of all the claims for compensation and restitution, as if his property on these works was contested a second time.
***
Ladies and gentlemen, for France, the love of art cannot be conceived without the love of justice.
I had the opportunity to say it a few weeks ago when I inaugurated in the Louvre the terraces «Rose Valland», in tribute to this great resistant who carried the fight of restitution and search of provenance.
Today, this fight is ours, thanks to all these remarkable people who act within our museums and cultural institutions to carry out this work of justice and reparation.
I want to salute the work of researcher Hélène IVANOFF, who, with the determination of the family, helped draw the attention of the Ministry to these paintings.
I would also like to pay tribute to the work of the Mission for the Research and Restitution of Cultural Property Stolen between 1933 and 1945, and in particular that of Mrs Gitta HO, who took over.
It is she who forwarded the file to the Commission for the compensation of victims of anti-Semitic spoliations, which I also welcome through its president, Mr. Michel JEANNOUTOT.
Finally, I salute the teams and directors of the museums who have preserved and protected these works for years. The museum of Cagnes-sur-Mer, which housed the Cariatides since 1995, and the Dieppe Museum where the Barges since 1954.
***
Ladies and gentlemen,
This long-term work must continue so that the thousands of stolen works find their rightful owners.
And I know very well that this cause is fervently defended within our cultural institutions, in our national museums but also in institutions under territorial supervision.
This is also why funding for provenance research has been doubled this year to facilitate this work in more regional cultural institutions.
And it is especially in this context that Parliament voted last July a framework law for restitution, which simplifies procedures.
I would also like to salute and thank our parliamentarians for this historic vote, which was also an opportunity for the national representation to unanimously recognize the need for this policy of reparation for spoliations.
I salute the rapporteurs of this bill, Ms. Fabienne COLBOC, here present, and Ms. Béatrice GOSSELIN, as well as the chairs of the cultural affairs commissions, Ms. Isabelle RAUCH and Mr. Senator Laurent LAFON.
Ladies and gentlemen, I repeat: because the love of art cannot be conceived without the love of justice, our policy of restitution has an immense value. For yesterday, but also for today.
For by returning his works to their rightful owners and descendants, the cycle of injustice can be broken. Families are allowed to rebuild memories, a past and a memory.
And above all, we affirm humanist values, values of freedom and justice, which are the basis of our idea of France and the Republic.
These paintings, today, have become more than works of art. They had become traces of the cruelty of history, signs of persecution and injustice.
But as I preside over this ceremony today, I feel that we are also making it a symbol of our commitment to the future.
Thank you.