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World Jewish News
US Court Orders Russia to Preserve Jewish Texts
25.01.2009
An American court demanded that Russia take care of Jewish sacred texts written by Hasidim. The latter appealed to court out of fear that texts held in Russian state archives could be headed for the black market.
Washington court issued a restraining order telling Russia to protect the collection of texts by Hasidim and return any that may already have been removed from the Russian State Military Archives, as reported by the Associated Press.
The order comes in a lawsuit filed by members of Chabad-Lubavitch, which follows the teachings of Eastern European rabbis and emphasizes the study of the sacred book of Torah. The group is suing Russia in U.S. court to recover thousands of manuscripts, prayer books, lectures and philosophical discourses by leading rabbis dating back to the 18th century.
The entire collection, which Chabad says totals 12,000 books and 50,000 rare documents, is being held in the Russian State Military Archives. The collection was formerly owned by Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohnю He was born in Russia but forced to leave the country in 1927. He took the documents to Latvia and later Poland, but left them behind when the Nazis invaded. He fled to the U.S and left the sacred texts in Europe. The collection was taken to Germany in the 1940s, then placed in the Soviet Archives in 1945.
The representative of the claimants said he had recently seen one of the texts of the collection, it was being assessed in Israel, which testifies the leak of the texts from Russian archives. The claimants asked Lamberth to order Russia to allow a delegation from Chabad to inspect the collection at the Russian library and ensure that they are being properly secured.
American lawyers offended
Royce Lamberth also warned Russia that the government faces sanctions in the case if it does not get new lawyers to represent them in the U.S. court. American lawyers representing Russia have asked to withdraw from the case because they say their client has not paid them. The law firm says government representatives have refused to take their calls, respond to memos about the case or see an attorney who traveled to Moscow for a detailed discussion of the defence line. Attorneys for Russia said they did not know what the fate of the sacred texts was since the Russian government is not talking to them.
The judge pointed out that he could not order a sovereign government like Russia to accept foreigners into the country and encouraged the Chabad to explore "other methods of influence."
The U.S. court accepted the case because both the Nazi seizure and the Russian government's appropriation of the archives are considered violations of international law.
Members of Chabad also say that they are asking the Obama administration to intervene to get the documents returned.
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