Released on = February 24, 2006, 8:03 pm

Press Release Author = Regine Elkan

Industry = Law

Press Release Summary = Avignon, France - February 23, 2006 - Régine Elkan, a French
national residing near Avignon, France, just filed a lawsuit against the French
Prime Minister over a significant Holocaust art claim involving the Carnavalet
Museum in Paris, France. This action was filed this week in a Paris court after a
government commission in charge of Holocaust assets claims refused to return a large
decorative art collection currently with the Carnavalet Museum.

Press Release Body = Holocaust art claimant files suit against French Prime Minister
over a major Paris Museum collection.
For immediate release
Avignon, France - February 23, 2006 - Régine Elkan, a French national residing near
Avignon, France, just filed a lawsuit against the French Prime Minister over a
significant Holocaust art claim involving the Carnavalet Museum in Paris, France.
This action was filed this week in a Paris court after a government commission in
charge of Holocaust assets claims refused to return a large decorative art
collection currently with the Carnavalet Museum.
This art collection, one of the most prestigious XVIIIth Century French Furniture
collections in the world, was initially donated by Henriette BOUVIER, an antique
dealer, to the Carnavalet Museum, in 1968. Elkan filed a restitution claim on May
21, 2002 with the so-called "Drai Commission", a government-appointed commission in
charge of resolving all Holocaust-related claims involving assets looted from Jews
during the Vichy Regime in France.
In the lawsuit, Elkan claims that this collection belonged to an estate which was
looted during World War II. The complaint also establishes that this estate, formed
after the death of Elkan's ancestor, Adolphe Fraenkel, was controlled by a French
Government official who played a central role in the looting of real estate from
Parisian Jews during the Vichy Regime.
Following the Drai Commission's refusal to return the collection, Elkan filed this
lawsuit against the office of the French Prime Minister, Philippe de Villepin. The
lawsuit is filed in Administrative Court, the arm of the French judicial system
which adjudicates suits between individuals and the French state. The French prime
Minister's Office has statutory oversight over the Drai Commission.
In addition, Elkan also reported she recently laid claim to an artworks currently
with the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This item's provenance originates with
Henriette Bouvier and was sold to the Metropolitan in the 50s. Elkan's claim
against the Metropolitan links the Bouvier provenance to the original estate of
Adolphe Fraenkel.

Press Contact:

Requests for information can be addressed to:

By E-Mail to: Régine Elkan
Rescam_communication@yahoo.com
To the Attention of: Director of Communication, RESCAM, LLC


Web Site = http://

Contact Details = Regine Elkan
Rescam_communication@yahoo.com