On 21 February 2022, France's restitution law for certain cultural goods taken from victims of antisemitic persecution became the legal mechanism for returning works held in public collections, including Marc Chagall's Le Père. The painting had belonged to David Cender, who acquired it in 1928 and lost his possessions after being forced into the Łódź ghetto in 1940. Because works in French public collections are generally inalienable, restitution required a special law rather than a normal administrative transfer. Museum and restitution sources document that the bill concerned Le Père and fourteen other works, with the National Assembly and Senate votes preceding the February 21 law date.
The case created a visible precedent for legislating restitution from French national collections.
