Administrative justice has once again refused Tuesday the request for compensation for a former of the compulsory labor service (STO), which claimed compensation for the two years of forced work which he endured in Germany.
Albert Corrieri, now 102 years old, asked for 43,200 euros, the equivalent of a salary of 10 euros an hour, in compensation for the work period carried out in Ludwigshafen, from March 13, 1943 to April 15, 1945.
At the time, he practiced as a plumber in a restaurant in Old Port in Marseille before being taken by force, at only 20 years old, as part of the Sto, established by the Vichy government to meet German requirements in labor.
Interned in a camp, he was forced to charge coal wagons to support the German war effort. He was injured in the arm during the Allied bombing.
In his judgment, the Marseille administrative court recalls that in 1957, Mr. Corriei was recognized “the quality of a person forced to work in enemy country”, which gave him entitled to a “lump sum compensation”, but that any possible recourse against this compensation is now prescribed.
During the hearing of February 25, his lawyer, Me Michel Pautot, pleaded “the imprescriptibility” of the STO, arguing that his client had been the victim of a “deportation”, recognized as a crime against humanity and, by nature, “imprescriptible”.
However, the administrative court has judged that “Mr. Corrieri does not have the quality of deportee within the meaning of the law of December 25, 1964”, which refers to the 1945 Nuremberg Charter and defines “in a limited manner” crimes against humanity. “It cannot more claim the benefit of article 212-1 of the penal code which defines and represses certain crimes against humanity, insofar as this text came into force on March 1, 1994”, more than 50 years after the facts.
“Even presented more than 80 years after the facts, Albert Corriei's request should have prospered,” reacted his lawyer in a statement, denouncing the fact that “the fault of the state in the deportation of hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens was not taken into account”.
“Albert Corrieri wants to continue his fight for the history and memory of his fellow citizens,” added Me Pautot, announcing his intention to “seize the President of the Republic”.
On February 5, the Nice Administrative Court had already rejected a similar request filed by another former STO, Erpilio Trovati, 101, also defended by Me Pautot. A decision against which the lawyer appealed.
In total, between 600,000 and 700,000 French were sent to Germany as part of the STO. If some have gone there, often deceived by Vichy propaganda, the vast majority were forced to leave.
(With AFP)
