A French man who was forced to work in Nazi Germany during World War II has taken his fight for compensation to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), seeking payment for labour he carried out under coercion more than eight decades ago.
Albert Corrieri, 104, is claiming €43,200, which he says represents wages owed for work performed between March 1943 and April 1945 after he was sent to Germany under the compulsory labour programme introduced by France's Vichy regime.
Corrieri, who was 20 when he was deported for work, was assigned to a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen and spent part of the war loading coal wagons used to support the Nazi war effort.
He was also interned in a labour camp and suffered an arm injury during Allied bombing raids.
"I was reduced to the status of a slave, forced to carry out the hardest work under the threat of weapons, six days a week, ten hours at a time, day and night, without receiving a single cent in wages," Corrieri said.
"I believe France owes me a debt."
His claim follows a French administrative court's rejection of his request for compensation.
Corrieri argues that, although he has already received compensation for the harm he suffered, he should also be paid for the work he was compelled to perform.
According to RTBF, French legislation adopted in 1951 provides compensation to people who were forced to work in enemy territory during the war.
However, Corrieri contends that the law does not address unpaid labour itself.
Speaking alongside his client, lawyer Michel Pautot told RTBF that the case goes beyond one man's circumstances.
"This fight goes beyond his personal situation," Pautot said. "It is about securing recognition of the modern slavery that existed during the Second World War."
The European Court of Human Rights will now decide whether the case is admissible.
