11/12/2009

News / ICE returns 16th century Hebrew Bible looted by Nazis

The 2-volume manuscript was stolen from Vienna, Austria, in 1938

NEW YORK - A 16th century two-volume Bomberg/Pratensis Rabbinic Bible is back in the hands of its rightful owners 71 years after it was stolen by the Nazis. Today, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York returned the Bible to Vienna's Jewish community, known as Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (IKG). This repatriation marks the third time this year that ICE and the U.S. Attorney's Office have repatriated artwork or property stolen during the Holocaust.

During the annexation of Austria in 1938, Nazi soldiers confiscated the rare Bible from the IKG library. On Nov. 9, 1938, known to history as "Kristallnacht," or "Crystal Night," the Gestapo seized and sealed the IKG library. Custody of the IKG library was transferred to the "Reichssicherheitshauptamt" (RSHA) in Berlin between 1939 and 1941. When Berlin was evacuated in 1943, main sections of the IKG library were transferred to other Nazi-occupied territories in Lower Silesia, a province of Poland, and North Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic.

The Rabbinic Bible, published between 1516 and1517, is a manuscript that includes an Aramaic summary and a series of commentaries by key medieval rabbinic figures including 11th century French scholar Rashi, late 12th/early 13th century Provencal scholar David Kimche, 13th century Spanish scholar Nachmanides and 14th century French scholar Gersonides.

The New York City auction house Kestenbaum & Company had offered for sale in its June 25, 2009, auction catalogue, an item described as a "Bible: Venice. Bomberg, 1516-1517." An ICE investigation determined that the ancient Bible described in the catalog was actually part of the library and property of IKG. The Bible was illegally imported into the United States on March 19, 2009. Once agents provided Kestenbaum proof of the Bible's provenance and prior ownership, the auction house immediately agreed to withdraw the Bible from auction and return it to its owners.

"The Bible returned today is a priceless inheritance of the people of Vienna," said James T. Hayes, Jr., special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New York. "ICE and the U.S. Attorney's office are grateful for the cooperation of Kestenbaum and Company auction house in the recovery of the Bible, and hope that Kestenbaum's leadership will encourage their peers in the industry to take a good look at their own works."

"It is important to understand that this Bible is being returned without litigation," said Ambassador J. Christian Kennedy of the U.S. State Department Office of Holocaust Issues. "To facilitate the return to rightful owners of cultural items displaced during World War II, the United States is considering the establishment of a commission to review and make recommendations on cases for which the parties are unable to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement. This would bring a measure of justice to Holocaust survivors, heirs and communities."

"Seventy-one years ago today, on 'Kristallnacht,' the Nazis carried out a violent and coordinated attack on Jewish people, ransacking the places they lived, worked and gathered," said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. "The passage of time does not diminish our remembrance, or the duty to return all surviving works of art and precious symbols stolen by the Nazis. Returning this Bible to the IKG today is a step toward that worthy goal."

ICE and the U. S. Attorney's Office have been at the forefront of investigating and recovering looted Holocaust-related artwork on behalf of rightful owners. Within the last six months, ICE and the U.S. Attorney's Office have recovered two paintings stolen by the Nazis that belonged to the late Jewish art dealer Max Stern. The 17th-century Dutch painting "Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe" and "St. Jerome." a painting by famed Italian artist Ludovico Carracci (1555 - 1619), were returned to the collector's estate.

ICE, the largest investigative agency of the Department of Homeland Security, handles investigations into stolen or illegally exported cultural artifacts that show up on the world market.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0911/091109newyork.htm

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