Books stolen from Polish Jewish communities during WWII donated to foundation

Some 33 rare books stolen during World War II from Jewish communities located in present-day Poland are being donated to the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland.

Representatives of the Central and Regional Library in Berlin and of the Judaicum Center in Berlin jointly donate the books to the foundation director, Monika Krawczyk.

Most of the books come from the former collections of the Jewish Theological Seminary of the Fränkel Foundation in Wroclaw. The oldest book, published in 1644, is signed by the German-Jewish theologian David Rosin, who lived from 1823 to 1894.

There are also two books from the collection of the Great Synagogue in Warsaw: Ludwik Wachler’s “Literature Handbook of 1833” and a pastoral letter from 1785. One of the books comes from the synagogue in Legnica and contains fictional literature.

— JTA