An ancient Jewish text has been discovered and returned 80 years after it was looted from a Hungarian seminary during the occupation of the Nazis in 1944.
An announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) revealed that an ancient book, known as the Di Gara Text, was voluntarily given over to the courts, and is set to be returned to the Jewish Theological Seminary of the University of Jewish Studies, otherwise known as Budapest Rabbinical Seminary, in Budapest, Hungary.
The announcement was made on October 7 following confirmation of the text’s forfeiture by District Judge Analisa Torres on October 4.
According to the SDNY, the Di Gara Text was printed by Giovanni di Gara, a Venetian printer of Hebrew books in the 16th century. The text includes two Jewish books, the Torah, made up of the five books of Moses, and the Haftarot, a selection of stories and teachings from the Hebrew Bible.
Left: An image of the leatherbound Di Gara Text. The text was found on a rare books website after being lost for 80 years. Right: United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams speaking at a press conference on drug trafficking, New York, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. Williams’ office oversaw the forfeiture of the Di Gara Text back to Hungary.
Left: SDNY, Right: Pamela Smith/Left: SDNY Press Release, Right: Associated Press
The Di Gara Text found its way to the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary in Hungary before the seminary was looted by Nazis in 1944.
The book was believed to be lost. However, in 2023, Hungarian officials became aware of a book that looked very much like the Di Gara Text for sale for $19,000 on a rare books website in the US known as AbeBooks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s release.
They alerted the Department of Homeland Security, who worked with special agents in Manhattan to locate the vendor, referred to by the SDNY as “Vendor-1.”
Newsweek has reached out to AbeBooks for comment.
Not only did the book resemble descriptions of the text, but it bore the stamp of Lelio Della Torre, an Italian rabbi and scholar from the 19th century.
Della Torre obtained the Di Gara Text during his lifetime, and added it to his collection of books, sealed with a stamp.
Following Della Torre’s death, the book was then sent to Budapest. According to the SDNY, despite the text’s disappearance, the seminary has never formally removed it as part of its collection.
The Dohany Street Synagogue also known as the Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, Budapest. The Jewish Community of Budapest was invaded and looted by the Nazis in 1944, and finally got one of their ancient books returned after it was found in New York.
Nano Calvo/Associated Press
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the SDNY, said in a press release: “With this forfeiture, a small, but meaningful, piece of the history of the Jewish faith will be returned to its rightful owner, the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary.
“The Di Gara Text went missing for nearly 80 years after it was looted from the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary during the city’s occupation by Nazi forces in 1944.
“We may never know how it ended up in the Southern District of New York, but it is now returning home. My Office retains its firm commitment to protecting priceless cultural property and, where it has been illegally taken, returning it to its rightful peoples.”
Vendor-1 admitted to confirmed he had been in possession of the text, however said that he had obtained it in the 1980s and was unaware of its stolen background, according to the U.S. Attorney’s release.
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