A permanent museum and library recording French Jews' experience of the Holocaust has been installed in cellars beneath the memorial. And slowly, France is also beginning to make more material reparations. The prime minister, Lionel Jospin, last year announced a new programme under which children whose parents were deported from France by the Vichy regime will get either a lump sum, or a monthly pension. But very few people around the world actually know of its existence, and the issue of illegally seized assets remains a highly sensitive one. Many authorities feel that outside lobbying amounts to unhelpful meddling in France's attempts to face up to its responsibilities.
Progress is, however, being made.
The US lawyers, who dispute the commission's findings that most accounts were reclaimed by holders or their relatives after 1945, say that the true figure is probably closer to 1bn. But it's moral satisfaction. Now they're finally making amends.