A rare Jewish text, printed in Venice in 1588 and considered lost for nearly 80 years, has been returned to Hungary after being looted by the Nazis during World War II.
The book, which contains the Five Books of Moses and the Haftarot, had been preserved at the Rabbinical Seminary of Budapest for generations before it was confiscated when the Nazis invaded Hungary.
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The 16th-century Text di Gara
(Photo: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York)
Known as the Text di Gara, after its Jewish-Venetian printer Giovanni di Gara, the book holds significant historical and religious value. After its printing, it became part of the collection of 19th-century Italian scholar Rabbi Lelio Della Torre, before being sold to the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary following his death in 1871. Although the Humash was stolen during the Holocaust in 1944, the seminary never removed it from its official records.
In 2023, the book unexpectedly resurfaced on the rare book website AbeBooks, listed for sale at $19,000. Photos of the book, along with the seal of Rabbi Della Torre, matched the missing Text di Gara.
Hungarian authorities contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which launched an investigation. Agents in Manhattan found that a New York book dealer, referred to as "Vendor-1," had unknowingly possessed the stolen book since the 1980s. After a legal seizure order was issued, the dealer agreed to return the text voluntarily.
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The seal of Rabbi Della Torre
(Photo: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York)
Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York approved the book’s return, and U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced its official restitution to the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary in a ceremonial event.
"With this forfeiture, a small but meaningful piece of Jewish history will be returned to its rightful owner," Williams said, underscoring the book's cultural and historical significance. While it remains unclear how the book ended up in New York, Williams reiterated his office's commitment to recovering stolen cultural treasures.
The so-called "miniature Humash" for its compact size, contains 162 pages of the Torah and 60 pages of Haftarot. Scholars consider it one of the earliest Jewish texts printed in Venice, with immense historical value not only due to its renowned printer but also for its remarkable journey—from Venice to a prominent Italian rabbi, its survival of the Holocaust, and its return to Hungary.
In a related announcement, the FBI revealed the recovery of a Nazi-looted painting: Bord de Mer, a pastel by Claude Monet. The painting, stolen from Adalbert "Bela" and Hilda Parlagi in 1940 after the family fled Nazi-occupied Vienna, had resurfaced in the U.S. at a gallery in Houston. The FBI facilitated the painting’s return to the family, with heirs Helen Lowe and Francoise Parlagi receiving it during an emotional ceremony.
"While this Monet is undoubtedly valuable, its true worth lies in what it represents to the Parlagi family," said James Dennehy, the FBI’s assistant director in New York. According to the FBI, the current owners of the painting were unaware of its Nazi-era provenance and voluntarily returned it.
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