Stolen Jewish manuscript returned after 65 years
Nazis looted 14th century document from collection in Austria
From Chris Strathmann
CNN
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A rare 14th century Hebrew manuscript was returned to the Vienna Jewish community by U.S. Customs officials Tuesday.
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nearly 65 years to the day after it was stolen by the Nazis, a rare historical Hebrew manuscript has been returned to the Austrian Jewish community.
At a ceremony in Manhattan, officials with the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement presented the letter-size parchment to Erika Jakubovits, executive director of the Jewish Community Organization of Vienna.
Agents recovered the document in June 2002 after it was smuggled into the United States and slated for sale at auction.
The 14th century manuscript is one of the oldest versions of a Kabalistic text known as Sepher Yetzirah. It's one of the first texts to mention the ancient Jewish mystical movement, according to Ori Soltes of the Holocaust Art Restoration Project. The document is valued at $68,000.
Jakubovits contacted Immigration and Customs in March 2002 after she saw a newspaper article that mentioned that Kestenbaum and Co., a New York auction house, was selling a rare manuscript. Immigration and Customs officials determined the document was stolen by the Nazis and that the seller, Aaron Stefansky, a U.S. citizen, had bought it in Israel and smuggled it to New York.
A spokeswoman from Kestenbaum & Co. told The Associated Press that she had no information on the decision to sell the manuscript. In September, Stefansky was convicted of failing to declare the manuscript, and sentenced to one year of probation and a fine of $3,000.
The manuscript had been part of a collection in Vienna until November of 1938, when the Nazis took it, Jakubovits said.
"We are fighting for more than 50 years in Austria to get back our property," she said. "Those things are very, very special. For me, it's the first time I get something returned."
Michael Garcia, acting assistant secretary of the bureau, said the investigation also pointed out holes in border security.
"If people can smuggle artifacts, smuggle other items across our borders, those same vulnerabilities could be exploited to smuggle components for [weapons of mass destruction] or other contraband," Garcia said.
Jakubovits said so far, only six of 625 documents looted by the Nazis have been recovered. She said a team of researchers in Austria is working to track down the missing documents.
The recovered manuscript will be put on display at the Jewish Museum in Vienna, Jakubovits said.
Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
