NEW YORK (Reuters) – A nearly 500-year-old Hebrew Bible stolen by the Nazis shortly before World War Two was returned to the Jewish community of Vienna yesterday, US officials said.
The Bible, which dates to 1516, disappeared after the Nazis seized and sealed the library of the Jewish Community of Vienna on November 9, 1938, said US Attorney Preet Bharara and the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Officials recovered the Bible, which had been donated to the Jewish Community of Vienna in 1908, after it was put up for sale at a New York City auction house this year.
The unidentified Swiss owner agreed to return the Bible after being told of its history. The book was handed over to the Jewish Community of Austria at a repatriation ceremony at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City yesterday.