Hungarian Jewish Community Discovers 100 Holocaust-Era Torah Scrolls Confiscated in WWII
by Joshua Levitt
Budapest’s Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH) on Monday said it will announce details regarding the discovery of more than 100 Holocaust-era Torah Scrolls that had been confiscated during World War II.
In a statement, EMIH called a press conference for Tuesday at Budapest’s Obuda Synagogue, where Executive Rabbi Shlomo Koves “will announce a historic discovery of the largest single collection of priceless confiscated sacred property of the Hungarian Jewish community in the Holocaust.”
In addition to the Torah scrolls, the Congregation said, “the Jewish ‘brethren’ of the evangelist library of Sarospatak have been found,” and that “negotiations have been started with a Russian party” – presumably the current holders of the trove.
EMIH said the restitution process was supported by the Hungarian Government and the U.S. State Department.