Chicago law firm Much Shelist filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of the victims of French deportations during World War II and their families. The suit is against Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF)-the French national railway.

The suit, which includes a plaintiff, Karen Scalin of Lincolnshire, seeks to hold SNCF accountable for the expropriation of cash, securities, silver, gold, jewelry, works of art, and other belongings confiscated from their families. The items were taken during the deportations of more than 75,000 Jews and others from France to Nazi camps from 1942-44. SNCF, one of the 250 largest corporations in the world, does business in Illinois through its subsidiary, which maintains a Rosemont-based facility.

“My grandparents were transported in SNCF cattle cars to their deaths at Auschwitz in 1942, and their belongings were seized by railroad officials,” said Scalin. “No compensation has ever been made to my family and the thousands of other victims of these coercive acts.” The suit was filed on April 16, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“These seizures were a violation of international law and a crime against humanity, and restitution is long overdue,” said Much Shelist attorney Steven P. Blonder, who represents the plaintiffs.