Los Angeles Times - 02.18.2005

Los Angeles Times

Russia Urged to Return Holy Jewish Text

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — All 100 senators have signed a letter urging the Russian government to return a collection of religious books to a New York-based orthodox Jewish group. 

The books were seized more than 80 years ago from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson as part of a Soviet crackdown on religion. In December 2002, the Russian government returned some of the books to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. 

But that was only a portion of the collection, and the balance remains in the possession of the Russian State Library. Other religious texts, thought to be destroyed in the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, are being held at the Russian State Military Archive. 

"We urge you to return these sacred religious texts, archives and manuscripts to Chabad, which would be a significant example of your government's commitment to justice, human rights and religious freedom," said the letter, written by Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman, a Jew born in Brooklyn, N.Y. 

Coleman said in a statement that he hoped President Bush would deliver the letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting later this month. 

The White House had no immediate comment on the letter. There was no answer at the Russian embassy Friday afternoon. 

The books are known as the "Schneerson collection," named for the prominent Lubavitcher family that included Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, a revered community leader in New York City who died a decade ago.

Read full text of letter

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United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

February 24, 2005



The Honorable Vladimir Putin
President
Russian Federation

Dear Mr. President:

We, the undersigned members of the United States Senate, respectfully request your assistance in returning the Schneerson collection from the Russian State Library and the Russian State Military Archive, to its rightful owners in the United States: Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States (hereafter referred to as “Chabad”).

The religious texts that Chabad seeks to retrieve consist of rare and irreplaceable books, archives and manuscripts on Chabad philosophy, Jewish religious law, prayer and tradition. The first portion of the Schneerson collection was seized by the former USSR around the time of the Bolshevik revolution and placed in the Russian State Library, where it remains to this day. The second portion of the Schneerson collection is in storage at the Russian State Military Archive. It had been assumed that this portion of the collection had been destroyed or captured by Nazi Germany during the holocaust and Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Poland in World War II. Chabad recently learned that the Soviet Army captured this portion of the Schneerson collection from the Nazis and transferred it to the Russian State Military Archive.

Chabad has worked tirelessly to secure the release of these texts, archives, and manuscripts that comprise the sacred heritage of an entire community. On May 31, 1992, the entire United States Senate collectively appealed to then-President Boris Yeltsin to honor his own commitment to return the Schneerson collection. A copy of this appeal is enclosed. Since 1992, however, a mere eight volumes have been released.

We urge you to return these sacred religious texts, archives, and manuscripts to Chabad, which would be a significant example of your government's commitment to justice, human rights, and religious freedom.