Holocaust survivors in France came home to stolen apartments, looted furniture and bureaucratic hurdles

Furniture confiscated from Jewish homes is delivered to other people in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris in April 1942, after an Allied bombing. Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images

In 1945, an angry mob confronted Aba Mizreh and four of his sons outside their former home in Paris. The Jewish family had hidden in Lyon during World War II, only to learn that their apartment had been looted and rented in their absence. Despite an eviction notice, the new tenants refused to leave, leading to a street fight.

Following the violent confrontation, Mizreh wrote to the French government. “Don’t I have the right, after having suffered so much, to get my property back?” he asked. “Haven’t I really paid enough for this war?”