Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 14
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $3,000
Estimate: $5,000 - $8,000
Sold for: $13,750
Including buyer's premium
Record book of the Chevra Kadisha (Jewish Burial Society) of Samarkand, dating from the time of the Holocaust, containing burial listings documenting approx. 1,500 deceased refugees from Eastern Europe. Samarkand (Uzbekistan), 1942-46. Hebrew and Yiddish.
An important source of information from the period of the Holocaust – apparently the only one of its kind – regarding the fate of thousands of refugees from Jewish communities in Eastern Europe: men, women, and children who fled to Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
This record book consists of tables, with spaces for detailed entries which include: given name of the deceased; his/her father's name; surname; birthplace; age; date(s) of death and burial; burial plot number and location of gravesite. From these detailed listings, as well as from later addenda and corrections, it is apparent that the members of the burial society were doing their utmost to obtain and record as much information as possible regarding the deceased. Most of the entries in the book include details regarding the site of the grave (the section and/or plot number and row, with occasional reference to nearby gravestones). In those cases where gravestones were actually put in place over gravesites, this fact is indicated. This detailed listing enables the identification of hundreds of unmarked graves.
It is clear from the record book that many of the deceased were interred with no one in charge having any knowledge of their age or place of origin. Many were anonymous, and are listed in the book with designations such as "boy, " "girl, " "woman, " and so forth. In many cases, the Hebrew letters "mem mem" ("met mitzvah") are added to the name to indicate that the deceased had no known relatives. Some of the entries also give information regarding circumstances of death (for instance, "Woman 'mem mem' from Respublikanski Hospital, brought there by people who found her on the street. Name and place [of origin] unknown"; "Man 'mem mem' from 'hachnasat orchim'"; or "Joseph 'mem mem, ' had a small wart on his left shoulder").
The entries include the following individuals: • Hirsh Meilech Teitelbaum of Reisha (interred on 18th Nissan [April 5] 1942) – R. Tzvi Elimelech Teitelbaum of Reisha (Rzeszów), son of R. Chaim Yosef of Dinov, scion of the rebbes of Blazhov. See: "Rzeszów Jews, Memorial Book" (Hebrew), p. 117; "Meorei Galicia" (Hebrew), Vol. 6, p. 744. • R. Ya'akov son of R. Yitzchak Weidenfeld of Bielsko [Bielsko-Biała] (interred in Tammuz [June-July] 1942) – R. Ya'akov Weidenfeld, second son of R. Yitzchak Weidenfeld, Rabbi of Hrymailiv (brother of the Tchebiner Rav); the following biographical note was written about him in the (Hebrew) book "Eleh Ezkerah" (Part 7, p. 72): "A great, G-d-fearing Torah scholar, who was exiled to Russia and passed away there." • Chanah daughter of Meir Simcha Chein of Nevel (interred on 19th Elul [August 28] 1945) – presumably Chanah Steingart, daughter of R. Meir Simcha Chein of Nevel, a prominent Chabad Chassid in the time of the Rebbe Rashab. See: "Avnei Chein" (History of the Chein Family, Hebrew), p. 196. • The boy Yisrael son of R. Avraham Kamai of Vilna, passed away at the age of nine, 1943, and his father, R. Avraham son of R. Yehoshua Kamai of Vilna, passed away at the age of 39, 1945. • Moshe son of Avraham Ehrlich (interred in Kislev [November] 1942), father of the composer and singer, R. Yom-Tov Ehrlich, who composed many songs relating to Samarkand; he and his father were deported from Poland to Samarkand following the Soviet conquest of eastern Poland.
The deceased had arrived from many different cities across Eastern Europe, including Warsaw, Krakow, Lublin, Sanz, Kiev (Kyiv), Kishinev (Chisinau), Rostov, Kharkov (Kharkiv), Kherson, Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk), Odessa, Moscow, Kovno (Kaunas), Vilna (Vilnius), Lida, Minsk, and many other cities in Galicia, Poland, and elsewhere.
With the advance of the German army into the Soviet Union during the Second World War, thousands of refugees fled to Samarkand, and this brought about a massive and exceptionally abrupt expansion in the size of the city’s Jewish community. As a consequence of the war, Samarkand was suffering shortages in basic commodities even prior to the influx and was utterly incapable of meeting the basic needs of the additional, incoming population. The authorities were therefore forced to institute a very strict, frugal policy of quotas. In 1942, the residents suffered the multiple blows of mass starvation, shortages, and an outbreak of typhus. All these factors combined to cause a precipitous rise in mortality over a very brief period. A local Chevra Kadisha was already functioning in the city, but the crisis necessitated the establishment of an additional Chevra Kadisha to deal with the huge numbers of deceased individuals among the incoming refugees. In the book "Yahadut HaDemama" (editor: N. Gottlieb; Jerusalem 1983/84), R. Yehuda Leib Levin, one of the most prominent representatives of Chabad-Lubavitch in Samarkand, speaks of how he founded the city’s new Chevra Kadisha for refugees: " I assembled a group of 13-15 people to assist me, and divided them up into different groups with different functions. One group, for instance, consisting of two individuals, would pay daily visits to the city’s hospitals… inquiring whether there were any Jews in their midst who had passed away. Whenever such a case would arise, the people would immediately get to work; first and foremost, they would remove the deceased from the confines of the hospital, to ensure that s/he would not be dumped like a rock along with the bodies of Gentiles and non-Jews…"
A partial index appears at the end of the record book, with entries listed according to burial plot.
Some 155 written pages (mostly on both sides). Numerous blank pages. 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Few creases and blemishes. Minor tears to edges of several leaves. Lengthy tear to one leaf. Several leaves with strips of paper glued onto lengths of edges. Neatly bound in a new binding, with two notebook pages added, one at the beginning and one at the end (inked stamps and notations in pencil on notebook pages). Two printed notes pasted at the beginning of record book (not affecting listings relating to the deceased).
An important source of information from the period of the Holocaust – apparently the only one of its kind – regarding the fate of thousands of refugees from Jewish communities in Eastern Europe: men, women, and children who fled to Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
This record book consists of tables, with spaces for detailed entries which include: given name of the deceased; his/her father's name; surname; birthplace; age; date(s) of death and burial; burial plot number and location of gravesite. From these detailed listings, as well as from later addenda and corrections, it is apparent that the members of the burial society were doing their utmost to obtain and record as much information as possible regarding the deceased. Most of the entries in the book include details regarding the site of the grave (the section and/or plot number and row, with occasional reference to nearby gravestones). In those cases where gravestones were actually put in place over gravesites, this fact is indicated. This detailed listing enables the identification of hundreds of unmarked graves.
It is clear from the record book that many of the deceased were interred with no one in charge having any knowledge of their age or place of origin. Many were anonymous, and are listed in the book with designations such as "boy, " "girl, " "woman, " and so forth. In many cases, the Hebrew letters "mem mem" ("met mitzvah") are added to the name to indicate that the deceased had no known relatives. Some of the entries also give information regarding circumstances of death (for instance, "Woman 'mem mem' from Respublikanski Hospital, brought there by people who found her on the street. Name and place [of origin] unknown"; "Man 'mem mem' from 'hachnasat orchim'"; or "Joseph 'mem mem, ' had a small wart on his left shoulder").
The entries include the following individuals: • Hirsh Meilech Teitelbaum of Reisha (interred on 18th Nissan [April 5] 1942) – R. Tzvi Elimelech Teitelbaum of Reisha (Rzeszów), son of R. Chaim Yosef of Dinov, scion of the rebbes of Blazhov. See: "Rzeszów Jews, Memorial Book" (Hebrew), p. 117; "Meorei Galicia" (Hebrew), Vol. 6, p. 744. • R. Ya'akov son of R. Yitzchak Weidenfeld of Bielsko [Bielsko-Biała] (interred in Tammuz [June-July] 1942) – R. Ya'akov Weidenfeld, second son of R. Yitzchak Weidenfeld, Rabbi of Hrymailiv (brother of the Tchebiner Rav); the following biographical note was written about him in the (Hebrew) book "Eleh Ezkerah" (Part 7, p. 72): "A great, G-d-fearing Torah scholar, who was exiled to Russia and passed away there." • Chanah daughter of Meir Simcha Chein of Nevel (interred on 19th Elul [August 28] 1945) – presumably Chanah Steingart, daughter of R. Meir Simcha Chein of Nevel, a prominent Chabad Chassid in the time of the Rebbe Rashab. See: "Avnei Chein" (History of the Chein Family, Hebrew), p. 196. • The boy Yisrael son of R. Avraham Kamai of Vilna, passed away at the age of nine, 1943, and his father, R. Avraham son of R. Yehoshua Kamai of Vilna, passed away at the age of 39, 1945. • Moshe son of Avraham Ehrlich (interred in Kislev [November] 1942), father of the composer and singer, R. Yom-Tov Ehrlich, who composed many songs relating to Samarkand; he and his father were deported from Poland to Samarkand following the Soviet conquest of eastern Poland.
The deceased had arrived from many different cities across Eastern Europe, including Warsaw, Krakow, Lublin, Sanz, Kiev (Kyiv), Kishinev (Chisinau), Rostov, Kharkov (Kharkiv), Kherson, Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk), Odessa, Moscow, Kovno (Kaunas), Vilna (Vilnius), Lida, Minsk, and many other cities in Galicia, Poland, and elsewhere.
With the advance of the German army into the Soviet Union during the Second World War, thousands of refugees fled to Samarkand, and this brought about a massive and exceptionally abrupt expansion in the size of the city’s Jewish community. As a consequence of the war, Samarkand was suffering shortages in basic commodities even prior to the influx and was utterly incapable of meeting the basic needs of the additional, incoming population. The authorities were therefore forced to institute a very strict, frugal policy of quotas. In 1942, the residents suffered the multiple blows of mass starvation, shortages, and an outbreak of typhus. All these factors combined to cause a precipitous rise in mortality over a very brief period. A local Chevra Kadisha was already functioning in the city, but the crisis necessitated the establishment of an additional Chevra Kadisha to deal with the huge numbers of deceased individuals among the incoming refugees. In the book "Yahadut HaDemama" (editor: N. Gottlieb; Jerusalem 1983/84), R. Yehuda Leib Levin, one of the most prominent representatives of Chabad-Lubavitch in Samarkand, speaks of how he founded the city’s new Chevra Kadisha for refugees: " I assembled a group of 13-15 people to assist me, and divided them up into different groups with different functions. One group, for instance, consisting of two individuals, would pay daily visits to the city’s hospitals… inquiring whether there were any Jews in their midst who had passed away. Whenever such a case would arise, the people would immediately get to work; first and foremost, they would remove the deceased from the confines of the hospital, to ensure that s/he would not be dumped like a rock along with the bodies of Gentiles and non-Jews…"
A partial index appears at the end of the record book, with entries listed according to burial plot.
Some 155 written pages (mostly on both sides). Numerous blank pages. 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Few creases and blemishes. Minor tears to edges of several leaves. Lengthy tear to one leaf. Several leaves with strips of paper glued onto lengths of edges. Neatly bound in a new binding, with two notebook pages added, one at the beginning and one at the end (inked stamps and notations in pencil on notebook pages). Two printed notes pasted at the beginning of record book (not affecting listings relating to the deceased).
Category
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $3,000
Estimate: $6,000 - $10,000
Sold for: $6,875
Including buyer's premium
Five documents issued during the Holocaust for R. Eliezer Sorotzkin, a student at the Telz (Telshe) Yeshiva and son of R. Zalman Sorotzkin, Rabbi of Lutsk; including life-saving transit visas signed by two figures recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, Chiune Sugihara and Jan Zwartendijk. Kovno (Kaunas), Kobe (Japan), and Shanghai, 1940-45. English, Polish, Japanese, and additional languages.
R. Eliezer Sorotzkin (1915-2007), son of R. Zalman Sorotzkin, Rabbi of Lutsk and chairman of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. At the time of the Holocaust, he managed to escape to the Far East thanks to the efforts of two individuals recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, Chiune Sugihara and Jan Zwartendijk. In Shanghai he married Hasia, daughter of R. Eliyahu Meir Bloch, dean of the Telz (Telshe) Yeshiva. In the aftermath of WWII, he immigrated to Palestine, where he established the Haredi town and community of Kiryat Ye'arim (Telz-Stone).
The present collection comprises the following documents issued for R. Eliezer Sorotzkin during the Holocaust:
1. "Sugihara Visa": A transit visa dated July 31, 1940 authorizing transit via Japan, issued (and apparently handwritten and hand-signed) by Chiune Sugihara, and an entry permit to Dutch territories in South America, dated July 24, 1940, issued and hand-signed by Jan Zwartendijk. Both the transit visa and entry permit are stamped onto a travel document issued by the Polish Government in Exile in Kaunas. This document bears Sorotzkin's photo and details on the first page.
A number of inked stamps documenting Sorotzkin's route of travel during the war appear on the Polish document next to the abovementioned visa and permit: an entry stamp to Japan; a transit visa via India issued by the British Consulate in Cuba; a travel pass to Palestine from the British Consulate in Kobe; a travel pass issued by the Egyptian Consulate in Tokyo; and additional inked stamps.
Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Japan's Consul in the city of Kaunas during the Holocaust. From July to September, 1940, he issued more than two thousand visas authorizing transit via Japan, and these are known to have saved the lives of both the bearers and their family members. According to some estimates, roughly 10,000 lives were saved as a result. Sugihara issued the transit visas over a three-month period. By doing so, he was deliberately ignoring instructions passed down by his superiors and acting in violation of the terms of eligibility, persevering in this mission in a flurry of activity up until the closure of the embassy. Roughly half of the transit passes issued by Sugihara were accompanied by another life-saving permit – this one issued by the Dutch Consul in Kaunas, Jan Zwartendijk (1896-1976). These permits were issued on behalf of Jews whose passports lacked an entry permit into a third country. Zwartendijk's entry permits – certifying that the holder was entitled to enter Dutch territories in South America – were required to fully ensure safe passage for the individuals in question insofar as the Japanese passes only enabled transit via Japan. For all their noble efforts and achievements in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bestowed upon both Sugihara and Zwartendijk the title of "Righteous Among the Nations."
Polish travel document: [2] ff. (three pages bearing handwriting and inked stamps), 27.5 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains. Creases. Fold lines. Tears, especially to edges and to lengths of fold lines, most of them reinforced with acidic adhesive tape (strips of adhesive tape applied to full length and width of leaves). Several open tears to edges.
2-5. Four personal documents belonging to R. Eliezer Sorotzkin: • Birth certificate of his son, Joseph Judah Leib (who would one day become dean of the Me'or Eliyahu Yeshiva in Telz-Stone and author of the book "Megged Yosef"), issued by the Health Department in Shanghai and dated December 11, 1945. English. • Letter from the Eastjewcom aid organization to the delegation of the Polish Government in Exile in Shanghai: request to issue a passport on behalf of Rabbi Sorotzkin, dated 1941. Polish. • Identity paper bearing passport photo, issued by the Polish Residents Association in China, dated 1943. • "Special Pass for Rabbi Student" in Shanghai, authorizing exit from the residential area from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM, dated 1945. Japanese and English.
Size and condition vary.
R. Eliezer Sorotzkin (1915-2007), son of R. Zalman Sorotzkin, Rabbi of Lutsk and chairman of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. At the time of the Holocaust, he managed to escape to the Far East thanks to the efforts of two individuals recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, Chiune Sugihara and Jan Zwartendijk. In Shanghai he married Hasia, daughter of R. Eliyahu Meir Bloch, dean of the Telz (Telshe) Yeshiva. In the aftermath of WWII, he immigrated to Palestine, where he established the Haredi town and community of Kiryat Ye'arim (Telz-Stone).
The present collection comprises the following documents issued for R. Eliezer Sorotzkin during the Holocaust:
1. "Sugihara Visa": A transit visa dated July 31, 1940 authorizing transit via Japan, issued (and apparently handwritten and hand-signed) by Chiune Sugihara, and an entry permit to Dutch territories in South America, dated July 24, 1940, issued and hand-signed by Jan Zwartendijk. Both the transit visa and entry permit are stamped onto a travel document issued by the Polish Government in Exile in Kaunas. This document bears Sorotzkin's photo and details on the first page.
A number of inked stamps documenting Sorotzkin's route of travel during the war appear on the Polish document next to the abovementioned visa and permit: an entry stamp to Japan; a transit visa via India issued by the British Consulate in Cuba; a travel pass to Palestine from the British Consulate in Kobe; a travel pass issued by the Egyptian Consulate in Tokyo; and additional inked stamps.
Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Japan's Consul in the city of Kaunas during the Holocaust. From July to September, 1940, he issued more than two thousand visas authorizing transit via Japan, and these are known to have saved the lives of both the bearers and their family members. According to some estimates, roughly 10,000 lives were saved as a result. Sugihara issued the transit visas over a three-month period. By doing so, he was deliberately ignoring instructions passed down by his superiors and acting in violation of the terms of eligibility, persevering in this mission in a flurry of activity up until the closure of the embassy. Roughly half of the transit passes issued by Sugihara were accompanied by another life-saving permit – this one issued by the Dutch Consul in Kaunas, Jan Zwartendijk (1896-1976). These permits were issued on behalf of Jews whose passports lacked an entry permit into a third country. Zwartendijk's entry permits – certifying that the holder was entitled to enter Dutch territories in South America – were required to fully ensure safe passage for the individuals in question insofar as the Japanese passes only enabled transit via Japan. For all their noble efforts and achievements in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bestowed upon both Sugihara and Zwartendijk the title of "Righteous Among the Nations."
Polish travel document: [2] ff. (three pages bearing handwriting and inked stamps), 27.5 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains. Creases. Fold lines. Tears, especially to edges and to lengths of fold lines, most of them reinforced with acidic adhesive tape (strips of adhesive tape applied to full length and width of leaves). Several open tears to edges.
2-5. Four personal documents belonging to R. Eliezer Sorotzkin: • Birth certificate of his son, Joseph Judah Leib (who would one day become dean of the Me'or Eliyahu Yeshiva in Telz-Stone and author of the book "Megged Yosef"), issued by the Health Department in Shanghai and dated December 11, 1945. English. • Letter from the Eastjewcom aid organization to the delegation of the Polish Government in Exile in Shanghai: request to issue a passport on behalf of Rabbi Sorotzkin, dated 1941. Polish. • Identity paper bearing passport photo, issued by the Polish Residents Association in China, dated 1943. • "Special Pass for Rabbi Student" in Shanghai, authorizing exit from the residential area from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM, dated 1945. Japanese and English.
Size and condition vary.
Category
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah
Catalogue
!["Schutz-Pass" ["Protective Passport"] issued to the Jewish woman Lili Gartner-Pataki and her daughter Kat](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale89/126.jpg "\"Schutz-Pass\" Signed by Raoul Wallenberg, Righteous Among the Nations")
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $4,500
Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000
Unsold
"Schutz-Pass" ["Protective Passport"] issued to the Jewish woman Lili Gartner-Pataki and her daughter Katalin by the Swedish Embassy in Budapest. Personally signed by Raoul Wallenberg. August 24, 1944. German and Hungarian.
A document attesting that the bearer and her daughter both enjoy the protection of the Kingdom of Sweden. Hand signed by the Swedish ambassador Carl Ivan Danielsson and bearing the inked stamps of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest as well as the signature of the bearer, Lili Gartner-Pataki. In the lower left corner, there is an additional hand signature – a quick scribble, partially obscured by an ink stain – that of Raoul Wallenberg.
The actions of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest on behalf of the Jews of Hungary began shortly after the Nazi German conquest of Hungary in 1944. Carl Danielsson, the Swedish ambassador, issued temporary Swedish passports specifically to Hungarian Jews with family or commercial ties to Swedish subjects.
In July 1944, after large numbers of Hungarian Jews had already been deported to Auschwitz, Raoul Wallenberg was dispatched on behalf of the Swedish Foreign Office to Budapest to assist in the rescue of the city's remaining Jews. For the most part, the Hungarian and German authorities honored the diplomatic standing of the Swedish Embassy, and Wallenberg managed to issue thousands of "Schutz-Passes" that offered reliable protection to their Jewish holders and prevented them from being deported eastward, despite the fact that they lacked any legal status.
Wallenberg did not make do with the issuing of these passes, and resorted to additional measures in his attempts to save Hungarian Jews; among other things, he opened shelters to house Jewish refugees, and applied various forms of pressure upon senior officials in the Nazi regime to halt the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz. According to a number of eyewitness accounts, he would arrive in time at the train stations where Jews were being concentrated for deportation to Auschwitz, and demand that all those ostensibly carrying the "Schutz-Passes" be allowed to get off the train. In 1966, the honorific of "Righteous among the Nations" was bestowed upon Raoul Wallenberg by Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
The name "Lili Gartner (Pataki)" appears among the "Schutz-Pass" holders included in the Wallenberg Passport List, kept in the Jewish Museum and Archives of Hungary, Budapest.
[1] f., 34 cm. Good condition. Fold lines to length and width. Minor tears to fold lines, and small open tear in middle of sheet at intersection of fold lines (reinforced with strips of adhesive tape on verso). Minor creases and stains. "Schutz-Pass" without passport photo. Abrasions to paper in space allotted for passport photo.
A document attesting that the bearer and her daughter both enjoy the protection of the Kingdom of Sweden. Hand signed by the Swedish ambassador Carl Ivan Danielsson and bearing the inked stamps of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest as well as the signature of the bearer, Lili Gartner-Pataki. In the lower left corner, there is an additional hand signature – a quick scribble, partially obscured by an ink stain – that of Raoul Wallenberg.
The actions of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest on behalf of the Jews of Hungary began shortly after the Nazi German conquest of Hungary in 1944. Carl Danielsson, the Swedish ambassador, issued temporary Swedish passports specifically to Hungarian Jews with family or commercial ties to Swedish subjects.
In July 1944, after large numbers of Hungarian Jews had already been deported to Auschwitz, Raoul Wallenberg was dispatched on behalf of the Swedish Foreign Office to Budapest to assist in the rescue of the city's remaining Jews. For the most part, the Hungarian and German authorities honored the diplomatic standing of the Swedish Embassy, and Wallenberg managed to issue thousands of "Schutz-Passes" that offered reliable protection to their Jewish holders and prevented them from being deported eastward, despite the fact that they lacked any legal status.
Wallenberg did not make do with the issuing of these passes, and resorted to additional measures in his attempts to save Hungarian Jews; among other things, he opened shelters to house Jewish refugees, and applied various forms of pressure upon senior officials in the Nazi regime to halt the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz. According to a number of eyewitness accounts, he would arrive in time at the train stations where Jews were being concentrated for deportation to Auschwitz, and demand that all those ostensibly carrying the "Schutz-Passes" be allowed to get off the train. In 1966, the honorific of "Righteous among the Nations" was bestowed upon Raoul Wallenberg by Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
The name "Lili Gartner (Pataki)" appears among the "Schutz-Pass" holders included in the Wallenberg Passport List, kept in the Jewish Museum and Archives of Hungary, Budapest.
[1] f., 34 cm. Good condition. Fold lines to length and width. Minor tears to fold lines, and small open tear in middle of sheet at intersection of fold lines (reinforced with strips of adhesive tape on verso). Minor creases and stains. "Schutz-Pass" without passport photo. Abrasions to paper in space allotted for passport photo.
Category
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $7,000 - $10,000
Sold for: $6,250
Including buyer's premium
Two "Schutzbrief" ("Protective Letters") issued by the Swiss Embassy in Budapest, Hungary, to a Jewish couple, Oskar and Jolan Szamekiu / Szamek. Budapest, December 9, 1944. German and Hungarian.
These letters were typewritten in German and Hungarian on the official stationery of the Department of Foreign Interests at the Swiss embassy ("Schweizerische Gesandtschaft, Abteilung für fremde Interessen"), managed by the diplomat Carl Lutz. With passport photos. The letters certify that Dr. Oskar Szamek, former physician of the Romanian diplomatic mission, and his wife Jolan, are both under the protection of the Swiss Embassy, representing Romanian interests.
Each of the two letters is hand signed twice by Carl Lutz and additionally bears the inked stamps of the Swiss Embassy in Budapest (in German and French), as well as the hand signature of the Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Budapest (Oskar Szamek's letter also bears the inked stamp of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) Still another certification, handwritten in Russian, appears on both letters at the bottom, placed and dated Budapest, February 6, 1945.
The name of Jolan Szamek, a housewife from Budapest, appears on a list of passengers who arrived in New York on August 14, 1947. According to the list, her husband was in Békéscsaba, Hungary at the time.
Through the first half of the 20th century, there were growing tensions between Romania and Hungary, with the main bone of contention being the issue of control over the region of Transylvania, which had been granted to Romania under the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, notwithstanding the fact that half the region's population was ethnically Hungarian. In the early stages of WWII, the two countries – both ruled by fascist regimes – jointly aligned themselves with the Axis Powers and began fighting against the Soviet Union soon after Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941. But after the dictatorship led by Romanian General Ion Antonescu was toppled in a coup on August 23, 1944, Romania switched sides and joined the Allied Forces, mostly in order to solidify its claim to the territories it regarded as historically Romanian. Diplomatic relations between Romania and Hungary were then severed, and the operation of the Romanian Embassy in Budapest was suspended. The present documents, the "Protective Letters" issued to Oskar and Jolan Szamek, were meant to safeguard the Jewish couple after they had been abruptly stripped of any diplomatic protection and exposed to persecution at the hands of a hostile regime.
Carl Lutz (1895-1975), Swiss diplomat. Appointed in 1942 to serve as vice consul in charge of the "Department of Foreign Interests" in the Swiss Embassy in Hungary. Worked to expedite the emigration of Jews from Hungary, whose borders were still open at the time.
Just before the occupation of Hungary by the Germans, Lutz began exercising his authority to issue "Protective Letters" thus adopting an idea originally conceived by Moshe (Miklos) Krausz, director of the Palestine Office in Budapest. The letters granted diplomatic protection to Jews with emigration permits. Eventually, this idea of "protective letters" was adopted by other ambassadors, and enabled the rescue of large numbers of Jews. Lutz displayed extraordinary dedication in his efforts to save Jews, and refused to leave Budapest even after the siege encircling the city was tightened. He remained there, steadfast in his mission, until the conquest of Budapest by the Soviet Red Army in 1945; only then did he return to Switzerland. For all his noble efforts and achievements in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bestowed upon him the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in 1965.
Two letters, [1] f. each, 29.5 cm. Fair to fair-poor condition. Fold lines to length and width. Tears, some lengthy, mostly to edges and to fold lines (causing minor damage to text); letter issued to Jolan Szamek mended by gluing sheet of paper (stationery of the Department of Foreign Interests, Swiss Legation) onto verso. Stains. Creases.
These letters were typewritten in German and Hungarian on the official stationery of the Department of Foreign Interests at the Swiss embassy ("Schweizerische Gesandtschaft, Abteilung für fremde Interessen"), managed by the diplomat Carl Lutz. With passport photos. The letters certify that Dr. Oskar Szamek, former physician of the Romanian diplomatic mission, and his wife Jolan, are both under the protection of the Swiss Embassy, representing Romanian interests.
Each of the two letters is hand signed twice by Carl Lutz and additionally bears the inked stamps of the Swiss Embassy in Budapest (in German and French), as well as the hand signature of the Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Budapest (Oskar Szamek's letter also bears the inked stamp of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) Still another certification, handwritten in Russian, appears on both letters at the bottom, placed and dated Budapest, February 6, 1945.
The name of Jolan Szamek, a housewife from Budapest, appears on a list of passengers who arrived in New York on August 14, 1947. According to the list, her husband was in Békéscsaba, Hungary at the time.
Through the first half of the 20th century, there were growing tensions between Romania and Hungary, with the main bone of contention being the issue of control over the region of Transylvania, which had been granted to Romania under the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, notwithstanding the fact that half the region's population was ethnically Hungarian. In the early stages of WWII, the two countries – both ruled by fascist regimes – jointly aligned themselves with the Axis Powers and began fighting against the Soviet Union soon after Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941. But after the dictatorship led by Romanian General Ion Antonescu was toppled in a coup on August 23, 1944, Romania switched sides and joined the Allied Forces, mostly in order to solidify its claim to the territories it regarded as historically Romanian. Diplomatic relations between Romania and Hungary were then severed, and the operation of the Romanian Embassy in Budapest was suspended. The present documents, the "Protective Letters" issued to Oskar and Jolan Szamek, were meant to safeguard the Jewish couple after they had been abruptly stripped of any diplomatic protection and exposed to persecution at the hands of a hostile regime.
Carl Lutz (1895-1975), Swiss diplomat. Appointed in 1942 to serve as vice consul in charge of the "Department of Foreign Interests" in the Swiss Embassy in Hungary. Worked to expedite the emigration of Jews from Hungary, whose borders were still open at the time.
Just before the occupation of Hungary by the Germans, Lutz began exercising his authority to issue "Protective Letters" thus adopting an idea originally conceived by Moshe (Miklos) Krausz, director of the Palestine Office in Budapest. The letters granted diplomatic protection to Jews with emigration permits. Eventually, this idea of "protective letters" was adopted by other ambassadors, and enabled the rescue of large numbers of Jews. Lutz displayed extraordinary dedication in his efforts to save Jews, and refused to leave Budapest even after the siege encircling the city was tightened. He remained there, steadfast in his mission, until the conquest of Budapest by the Soviet Red Army in 1945; only then did he return to Switzerland. For all his noble efforts and achievements in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bestowed upon him the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in 1965.
Two letters, [1] f. each, 29.5 cm. Fair to fair-poor condition. Fold lines to length and width. Tears, some lengthy, mostly to edges and to fold lines (causing minor damage to text); letter issued to Jolan Szamek mended by gluing sheet of paper (stationery of the Department of Foreign Interests, Swiss Legation) onto verso. Stains. Creases.
Category
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $2,000
Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000
Sold for: $4,500
Including buyer's premium
Babylonian Talmud – complete set. Munich-Heidelberg, 1948. "Published by the Union of Rabbis in the American Occupation Zone in Germany".
After WWII, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few copies that were available for the refugees. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the scorched soil of Germany; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a labor camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts" (Psalms 119).
19 volumes. Approx. 39 cm. Brittle paper in some volumes. Overall good condition. Stains. Dark ink stains to several leaves. Minor marginal tears. Tear to title page of Tractate Yevamot, without loss, repaired. Creases to some title pages. Stamps in several places. New (uniform) leather bindings.
After WWII, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few copies that were available for the refugees. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the scorched soil of Germany; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a labor camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts" (Psalms 119).
19 volumes. Approx. 39 cm. Brittle paper in some volumes. Overall good condition. Stains. Dark ink stains to several leaves. Minor marginal tears. Tear to title page of Tractate Yevamot, without loss, repaired. Creases to some title pages. Stamps in several places. New (uniform) leather bindings.
Category
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $8,000
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Sold for: $22,500
Including buyer's premium
Letter handwritten and hand-signed by Theodor (Binyamin Ze'ev) Herzl, written in the course of his first journey to meet the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Constantinople (today Istanbul), June 25, 1896. German.
Brief handwritten letter personally signed by Theodor Herzl, on the thin stationery of the elegant Hotel Royal; signed "Herzl." Here, Herzl writes that his departure for London will be delayed: "The Sultan passed word onto me yesterday, that I might stay here a few more days; perhaps he has something to tell me. Therefore, my departure is delayed […] All further details [will be delivered] verbally."
A similarly worded account of Herzl's experience in Constantinople appears in his personal diary: "Yesterday the Sultan sent me word that I should not leave today; he would probably have something to say to me before my departure. This is a success – though an uncertain one" (The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, Vol. I, p. 392; see below). The actual reason the Sultan requested that Herzl delay his departure from Constantinople is not indicated in the diaries.
The present letter may have been addressed to Rabbi Simeon Singer (1846-1906), mentioned in Herzl's diaries as the person who came to meet him upon his arrival in London, following Herzl's failure to be granted a substantive meeting with the Sultan.
Herzl's 1896 visit to Constantinople
Beginning in the 1890s, Theodor Herzl embarked on an earnest and unrelenting search for a solution to the suffering of the Jewish people in the Diaspora. The first attempt to advance the realization of his dream – the creation of a modern state for the Jewish people – was made in 1896, with his planned meeting with the Sultan of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, Abdul Hamid II, in Constantinople. Herzl intended to present the Sultan with an attractive offer: Jewish tycoons and wealthy financiers would contribute handsomely to relieve the Ottoman Empire's heavy debts to Europe, and in return the Sultan would grant the Jewish people a charter over the historical Land of Israel.
The rare and extraordinary meeting was organized with the help of a mediator, Philip Michael de Newlinsky (1841-1899), an exiled, disillusioned, and disenfranchised Polish aristocrat. Having despaired over the state of affairs in his own motherland, he became something of a self-appointed diplomat-for-hire. He agreed to accompany Herzl on his journey and enable the latter to benefit from his connections with "the Supreme Gate" (the name given to the central authority of the Ottoman Empire, located in Constantinople).
On July 15, Herzl boarded the Orient Express train in Vienna. In Budapest, he was joined by Newlinsky. He reached Constantinople on July 17, following a two-day train ride. In an attempt to create the impression that he had unlimited funds at his disposal, he chose to stay at Constantinople's highly prestigious Hotel Royal, notwithstanding the fact that he had not yet begun to accumulate the sums of money required to sustain the proposals he was about to present to the Sultan.
Immediately upon his arrival, Herzl began intensively lobbying every individual he could locate with ties to the wheels of power, including Prime Minister and Grand Vizier Halil Rifat Pasha. But senior officials expressed serious reservations about his proposed program, insisting that it was against their principles to sell any territory.
Notwithstanding the disappointing responses of the senior officials, Herzl clung to the belief that the success of his visit would be decided entirely on the basis of a face-to-face meeting with the Sultan. He stayed in Constantinople for a total of eleven days; as stated, he managed to meet with numerous senior officials of the "Supreme Gate" whose demeanor was generally friendly, albeit sceptical. But he was never granted a meeting with the Sultan. A brief meeting did take place between the Sultan and Herzl's envoy/mediator, Newlinsky, whereupon the latter was informed of the Sultan's rejection of Herzl's proposal. To sweeten the bitter pill, Abdul Hamid announced that Herzl would be awarded a medal of honor, of the Order of the Medjidie, Third Class. The Sultan also uttered a vague commitment regarding a future arrangement in which the Jews would be granted at least some of the lands in question: "The Jews are intelligent; they will find some acceptable formula" (The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, Vol. I, p. 400; see below).
Herzl's visit to Constantinople was only an initial step, but it served to place him on the world diplomatic stage; it helped reinforce his status as leader of the Zionist movement and spread his message among the members of the movement. In May, 1901, Herzl would finally succeed in meeting face-to-face with the Sultan, and this was in fact a lengthy meeting. Here, once again, he was awarded a medal, this time of the Order of the Medjidie, First Class – Turkey's highest honor. But once again, even though Herzl himself considered the meeting a success, it did not bring about the desired result: a charter enabling Jews to settle in the Land of Israel.
[1] f. (folded in half; one handwritten page), 23 cm. Good condition. Fold lines and creases. Stains. Few small tears to verso (blank side).
References:
• Amos Elon, "Herzl, " Am Oved, Tel Aviv, 1975, Hebrew, pp. 220-24. (English edition published by Schocken, 1985.)
• Shlomo Avineri, "Herzl, " Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, Jerusalem, 2007, Hebrew.
• Theodor Herzl, "The Issue of the Jews: Diaries 1895-1904," Vol. I, Bialik Institute publishing house, Jerusalem, 1997, Hebrew.
• Theodor Herzl, "The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, " edited by Raphael Patai, translated by Harry Zohn, Herzl Press and Thomas Yoseloff, New York and London, 1960.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $2,500
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
Sold for: $4,000
Including buyer's premium
Profile portrait of Theodor (Binyamin Ze'ev) Herzl: soft-ground etching (vernis mou) by Hermann Struck, 1903. S
igned and dated in the plate, and signed in pencil by both Struck and Herzl.
This portrait ("Bildnis Theodor Herzl" – "Portrait of Theodor Herzl"), was created following a meeting between Hermann Struck and Theodor Herzl in May 1903. Struck – an ardent Zionist from a young age – returned to Europe after travelling Palestine, whereupon he met with Herzl at his home in Vienna. In the course of the meeting, Struck sketched a series of drawings of Herzl, and later used these drawings to create the portrait. Struck met Herzl again a few months later at the Sixth Zionist Congress (August 1903), at which time Herzl asked Struck to lend him a number of the early copies of the etching so that he could sign them.
The noted art historian Karl Schwarz, the first director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, related as follows to the image of Herzl as it appears in the present etching: "Evidently, the artist aspired to create an idealized image of one of the prophets of Israel, and in this endeavor he succeeded fully. Theodor Herzl lives in the hearts of us all in that portrait rendered by Struck the artist; this was the picture of Herzl par excellence – the visionary utterly absorbed in his life's mission, with his eyes gazing toward the future" ("Hermann Struck, The Man and the Artist, " pp. 30-31, Hebrew).
Following Herzl's passing, Struck made use of the drawings he had made to create two additional etchings depicting Herzl, but the present portrait is widely regarded as the finest and most noteworthy: " Within a brief period, this etching had become so well known that it came to be viewed as something akin to a symbol of Zionism, especially after the charismatic leader's death in 1904. At that time, it won the hearts of all the Zionist circles. Up until the establishment of the State of Israel, this portrait of Theodor Herzl would serve as a virtual embodiment of all of Zionism. It became a permanent fixture, adorning every Zionist event at every venue" ("Hermann Struck, Master Printmaker, " p. 38, Hebrew).
Etching: 35X45 cm (sheet: approx. 45X56 cm). Good condition. Browning to paper. Few stains. Minor blemishes. Numbered in pencil in bottom right corner. Mounted on cardboard, matted and framed.
References:
• "Hermann Struck, Master Printmaker, " exhibition catalogue, The Open Museum, Tefen Industrial Park, 2007. Hebrew. pp. 38 and 83.
• Yitzhak Mann, ed., "Hermann Struck, The Man and the Artist." Dvir, Tel Aviv, 1954. Hebrew. pp. 30-31.
This portrait ("Bildnis Theodor Herzl" – "Portrait of Theodor Herzl"), was created following a meeting between Hermann Struck and Theodor Herzl in May 1903. Struck – an ardent Zionist from a young age – returned to Europe after travelling Palestine, whereupon he met with Herzl at his home in Vienna. In the course of the meeting, Struck sketched a series of drawings of Herzl, and later used these drawings to create the portrait. Struck met Herzl again a few months later at the Sixth Zionist Congress (August 1903), at which time Herzl asked Struck to lend him a number of the early copies of the etching so that he could sign them.
The noted art historian Karl Schwarz, the first director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, related as follows to the image of Herzl as it appears in the present etching: "Evidently, the artist aspired to create an idealized image of one of the prophets of Israel, and in this endeavor he succeeded fully. Theodor Herzl lives in the hearts of us all in that portrait rendered by Struck the artist; this was the picture of Herzl par excellence – the visionary utterly absorbed in his life's mission, with his eyes gazing toward the future" ("Hermann Struck, The Man and the Artist, " pp. 30-31, Hebrew).
Following Herzl's passing, Struck made use of the drawings he had made to create two additional etchings depicting Herzl, but the present portrait is widely regarded as the finest and most noteworthy: " Within a brief period, this etching had become so well known that it came to be viewed as something akin to a symbol of Zionism, especially after the charismatic leader's death in 1904. At that time, it won the hearts of all the Zionist circles. Up until the establishment of the State of Israel, this portrait of Theodor Herzl would serve as a virtual embodiment of all of Zionism. It became a permanent fixture, adorning every Zionist event at every venue" ("Hermann Struck, Master Printmaker, " p. 38, Hebrew).
Etching: 35X45 cm (sheet: approx. 45X56 cm). Good condition. Browning to paper. Few stains. Minor blemishes. Numbered in pencil in bottom right corner. Mounted on cardboard, matted and framed.
References:
• "Hermann Struck, Master Printmaker, " exhibition catalogue, The Open Museum, Tefen Industrial Park, 2007. Hebrew. pp. 38 and 83.
• Yitzhak Mann, ed., "Hermann Struck, The Man and the Artist." Dvir, Tel Aviv, 1954. Hebrew. pp. 30-31.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Sold for: $2,000
Including buyer's premium
Ring bearing a portrait of Theodor (Binyamin Ze'ev) Herzl and the Hebrew inscription: "5th of Iyar 5680 / "Realization of the Balfour Declaration." [The former Austro-Hungarian Empire (probably Czechoslovakia), ca. 1920].
Silver (marked; hallmarks faded); enamel.
At the center of the ring is an oval-shaped medallion bearing a profile portrait of Theodor Herzl, facing left, framed with pale-blue-and-white enamel inscribed with the (Hebrew) words "Realization of the Balfour Declaration." The ring also bears the date "5th of Iyar 5680" [April 23, 1920], on either side of the medallion. The inscription is in reference to the resolution of the San Remo Conference (April 1920) granting the United Kingdom a mandate over Palestine on the basis of the Balfour Declaration, wherein Great Britain's leadership declared that "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people…"
The Balfour Declaration – one of the most significant milestones in the annals of the Zionist movement and the re-establishment of Jewish self-determination in the Promised Land – found expression in all aspects of 20th-century Jewish culture, and perhaps most conspicuously in the plastic arts. From the masters of the Bezalel School and the preeminent art schools of Europe down to anonymous folk artists from the multifarious far reaches of the Jewish Diaspora, Jewish and Zionist artists began producing paintings, prints, vessels, sculptures, pieces of jewelry, functional objects for daily use, and sacred or ritual articles – all in the spirit of the Zionist ethos and infused with emotional uplift, in anticipation that the prophetic dream of the Return to Zion might be realized someday soon. The present ring is of a piece with an entire line of jewelry, ritual objects, and functional and decorative objects, all bearing the image of Theodor Herzl, visionary father of the Jewish State, and commemorates an important landmark on the road to the realization of that very dream.
Diameter: approx. 20 mm. Good condition. Minor warping. Minor scratches.
Silver (marked; hallmarks faded); enamel.
At the center of the ring is an oval-shaped medallion bearing a profile portrait of Theodor Herzl, facing left, framed with pale-blue-and-white enamel inscribed with the (Hebrew) words "Realization of the Balfour Declaration." The ring also bears the date "5th of Iyar 5680" [April 23, 1920], on either side of the medallion. The inscription is in reference to the resolution of the San Remo Conference (April 1920) granting the United Kingdom a mandate over Palestine on the basis of the Balfour Declaration, wherein Great Britain's leadership declared that "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people…"
The Balfour Declaration – one of the most significant milestones in the annals of the Zionist movement and the re-establishment of Jewish self-determination in the Promised Land – found expression in all aspects of 20th-century Jewish culture, and perhaps most conspicuously in the plastic arts. From the masters of the Bezalel School and the preeminent art schools of Europe down to anonymous folk artists from the multifarious far reaches of the Jewish Diaspora, Jewish and Zionist artists began producing paintings, prints, vessels, sculptures, pieces of jewelry, functional objects for daily use, and sacred or ritual articles – all in the spirit of the Zionist ethos and infused with emotional uplift, in anticipation that the prophetic dream of the Return to Zion might be realized someday soon. The present ring is of a piece with an entire line of jewelry, ritual objects, and functional and decorative objects, all bearing the image of Theodor Herzl, visionary father of the Jewish State, and commemorates an important landmark on the road to the realization of that very dream.
Diameter: approx. 20 mm. Good condition. Minor warping. Minor scratches.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Sold for: $3,000
Including buyer's premium
Large handwritten leaf, with micrographic ornaments – letter to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, from the Jews of Safed. [Safed, 1849]. Hebrew.
The letter is addressed to Queen Victoria in the name of 255 Jews who immigrated to Safed from the Russian Empire, and request the protection of the British Crown.
Three micrographic ornaments adorn the top of the letter: a crown consisting of Psalms, with the inscription "Keter Meluchah" at the base; flanked by two hands raised in priestly blessing, comprised of the words of the prayer for the monarch, with the name of the queen – Victoria. The text of the letter is flanked by verses from Yeshaya, lettered in gilt.
In the letter, the Jews of Safed relate that they have been left stateless as a result of the decree issued by Czar Nicholas I in 1848, pronouncing that those absent from Russia for more than half a year would lose their Russian nationality.
The same decree allowed Jews to apply to representatives of other European countries in Palestine for protection, and the British consul James Finn gave the Safed residents a written commitment to grant them the status of British protégés, though he later retracted his commitment. The letter describes the rejoicing of the Jews upon receiving this note from Finn, and the sense of security it gave them, and conversely their distress when it was retracted. In order to settle their status, and with the hope of gaining the protection of the British crown, the Jews of Safed sent their representative, Rabbi Mordechai Halevi, to the British embassy to plead the case of the poor, destitute Jews who left their homeland to settle in the Holy Land and devote themselves to the worship of G-d.
As the consul Finn writes in his book Stirring Times, most of the Russian Jews in Palestine eventually did become British protégés. He even brings the English translation of a letter on parchment received from the Jews of Safed in July 1849, thanking the queen for her protection.
56X40 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains, including minor dampstains and traces of mold. Open tears due to ink erosion, affecting text. Fold lines and creases (slightly affecting text). Tears to folds and margins. Reinforced with acidic tape on verso and in margins (partially detached); dark tape stains to length and width of leaf.
The letter is addressed to Queen Victoria in the name of 255 Jews who immigrated to Safed from the Russian Empire, and request the protection of the British Crown.
Three micrographic ornaments adorn the top of the letter: a crown consisting of Psalms, with the inscription "Keter Meluchah" at the base; flanked by two hands raised in priestly blessing, comprised of the words of the prayer for the monarch, with the name of the queen – Victoria. The text of the letter is flanked by verses from Yeshaya, lettered in gilt.
In the letter, the Jews of Safed relate that they have been left stateless as a result of the decree issued by Czar Nicholas I in 1848, pronouncing that those absent from Russia for more than half a year would lose their Russian nationality.
The same decree allowed Jews to apply to representatives of other European countries in Palestine for protection, and the British consul James Finn gave the Safed residents a written commitment to grant them the status of British protégés, though he later retracted his commitment. The letter describes the rejoicing of the Jews upon receiving this note from Finn, and the sense of security it gave them, and conversely their distress when it was retracted. In order to settle their status, and with the hope of gaining the protection of the British crown, the Jews of Safed sent their representative, Rabbi Mordechai Halevi, to the British embassy to plead the case of the poor, destitute Jews who left their homeland to settle in the Holy Land and devote themselves to the worship of G-d.
As the consul Finn writes in his book Stirring Times, most of the Russian Jews in Palestine eventually did become British protégés. He even brings the English translation of a letter on parchment received from the Jews of Safed in July 1849, thanking the queen for her protection.
56X40 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains, including minor dampstains and traces of mold. Open tears due to ink erosion, affecting text. Fold lines and creases (slightly affecting text). Tears to folds and margins. Reinforced with acidic tape on verso and in margins (partially detached); dark tape stains to length and width of leaf.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Sold for: $1,250
Including buyer's premium
Large decorated handwritten leaf – text of the sermon delivered by R. Moshe Zeiger Charag, a trustee of Kollel Austria (Kollel Osterreich) in Safed, on the occasion of the birthday of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria. Written by a scribe, with the hand signature of R. Moshe Zeiger Charag and the stamp of Kollel Austria. Safed, 11th Elul 1869. Hebrew.
Hebrew title at the top of the leaf in fine calligraphic script. This is followed by the text of the sermon delivered by R. Moshe Zeiger Charag on the occasion of the 39th birthday of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, celebrated by the Jews in the synagogues with prayers and candle lighting.
Emperor Franz Joseph I was very well-regarded by the Jews, in light of the wide-ranging freedom and many civil rights they enjoyed during his long reign, something unprecedented in the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian empires. This sympathy is well reflected in the text of the present sermon, which is full of admiration for the emperor and praise of his mercifulness. R. Zeiger even states that since the destruction of the temple, there have never been times of liberty and freedom of religion like these. Signature of R. Moshe Zeiger Charag, and stamp of Kollel Austria at the end of the sermon.
R. Moshe Zeiger Charag (d. 1909), public figure and prominent member of the Safed Chassidic community. A leading trustee of Kollel Austria, and confidant of Rebbe Mendele, the Tzemach Tzadik of Vizhnitz. He married the granddaughter of R. Gabriel Tshak (hence the name Charag – Chatan R. Gabriel). One of his grandsons was the artist Yosef Tzvi Geiger (a stamp of his estate appears at the foot of the leaf).
Approx. 46X34 cm. Fair condition. Fold lines and creases. Stains, including dampstains. Minor ink smudges. Closed and open tears to margins and folds (slightly affecting text). Reinforced with acidic tape on verso and margins; dark tape stains to length and width of leaf.
Hebrew title at the top of the leaf in fine calligraphic script. This is followed by the text of the sermon delivered by R. Moshe Zeiger Charag on the occasion of the 39th birthday of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, celebrated by the Jews in the synagogues with prayers and candle lighting.
Emperor Franz Joseph I was very well-regarded by the Jews, in light of the wide-ranging freedom and many civil rights they enjoyed during his long reign, something unprecedented in the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian empires. This sympathy is well reflected in the text of the present sermon, which is full of admiration for the emperor and praise of his mercifulness. R. Zeiger even states that since the destruction of the temple, there have never been times of liberty and freedom of religion like these. Signature of R. Moshe Zeiger Charag, and stamp of Kollel Austria at the end of the sermon.
R. Moshe Zeiger Charag (d. 1909), public figure and prominent member of the Safed Chassidic community. A leading trustee of Kollel Austria, and confidant of Rebbe Mendele, the Tzemach Tzadik of Vizhnitz. He married the granddaughter of R. Gabriel Tshak (hence the name Charag – Chatan R. Gabriel). One of his grandsons was the artist Yosef Tzvi Geiger (a stamp of his estate appears at the foot of the leaf).
Approx. 46X34 cm. Fair condition. Fold lines and creases. Stains, including dampstains. Minor ink smudges. Closed and open tears to margins and folds (slightly affecting text). Reinforced with acidic tape on verso and margins; dark tape stains to length and width of leaf.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Sold for: $1,250
Including buyer's premium
Fine letter of appreciation, handwritten on a large sheet of paper, dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and to his son, Crown Prince Rudolf, hand signed by the trustees of Kollel Austria (Kollel Österreich) in Safed. Safed, March 7, 1881. German.
Letter of appreciation and praise in German, dedicated to the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Franz Joseph I, and to his son, Crown Prince Rudolf; with mention of the marriage of Rudolf with Princess Stephanie of Belgium (daughter of Leopold II King of Belgium).
Hebrew verses in gold and crimson surround the German text.
The letter is signed (in Latin characters) by: • R. Yissachar Dov Berisch Lüstman of Sanok, Lviv trustee of Kollel Austria. • R. Moshe Zeiger Charag (d. 1909), public figure and prominent member of the Safed Chassidic community. Head of the Kollel Austria trustees, and confidant of Rebbe Mendele, the Tzemach Tzadik of Vizhnitz. He married the granddaughter of R. Gabriel Tshak (hence the name Charag – Chatan R. Gabriel). One of his grandsons was the artist Yosef Tzvi Geiger. • R. Chanoch Zundel Fogel, rabbi of the Vizhnitz Chassidim in Safed (previously rabbi of Oyber Visheve). • R. Yaakov son of R. Mordechai Fridfertig of Rozniatow, Vizhnitz trustee of Kollel Austria. • R. Yehuda Leib Krauthamer of Kolomyia, Kosov trustee of Kollel Austria. • Two additional, unidentified signatories ("Efrina ---", "J--- Waidberg"). With the stamp of Kollel Austria.
At the time this letter was signed, Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-1889) was on a hunting and research trip in Palestine and Egypt (the prince travelled around the country, yet did not visit Safed itself). At the time of the trip, which he embarked upon hastily, Rudolf had been betrothed to Princess Stephanie for over a year, and their wedding ceremony was therefore delayed until the end of May that year, after his return from the trip.
Approx. 54X38 cm. Fair condition. Folding marks and creases. Stains. Minor closed and open tears to margins and folds (slightly affecting text). Reinforced with strips of acidic tape on verso and margins; dark tape stains to length and width of leaf.
Letter of appreciation and praise in German, dedicated to the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Franz Joseph I, and to his son, Crown Prince Rudolf; with mention of the marriage of Rudolf with Princess Stephanie of Belgium (daughter of Leopold II King of Belgium).
Hebrew verses in gold and crimson surround the German text.
The letter is signed (in Latin characters) by: • R. Yissachar Dov Berisch Lüstman of Sanok, Lviv trustee of Kollel Austria. • R. Moshe Zeiger Charag (d. 1909), public figure and prominent member of the Safed Chassidic community. Head of the Kollel Austria trustees, and confidant of Rebbe Mendele, the Tzemach Tzadik of Vizhnitz. He married the granddaughter of R. Gabriel Tshak (hence the name Charag – Chatan R. Gabriel). One of his grandsons was the artist Yosef Tzvi Geiger. • R. Chanoch Zundel Fogel, rabbi of the Vizhnitz Chassidim in Safed (previously rabbi of Oyber Visheve). • R. Yaakov son of R. Mordechai Fridfertig of Rozniatow, Vizhnitz trustee of Kollel Austria. • R. Yehuda Leib Krauthamer of Kolomyia, Kosov trustee of Kollel Austria. • Two additional, unidentified signatories ("Efrina ---", "J--- Waidberg"). With the stamp of Kollel Austria.
At the time this letter was signed, Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-1889) was on a hunting and research trip in Palestine and Egypt (the prince travelled around the country, yet did not visit Safed itself). At the time of the trip, which he embarked upon hastily, Rudolf had been betrothed to Princess Stephanie for over a year, and their wedding ceremony was therefore delayed until the end of May that year, after his return from the trip.
Approx. 54X38 cm. Fair condition. Folding marks and creases. Stains. Minor closed and open tears to margins and folds (slightly affecting text). Reinforced with strips of acidic tape on verso and margins; dark tape stains to length and width of leaf.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue
Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
November 22, 2022
Opening: $4,000
Estimate: $5,000 - $8,000
Unsold
Two greetings from members of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine to two different members of the Rothschild family. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 1887 and 1914. Hebrew.
1. A "Shanah Tovah" New Year's greeting card to Baron Mayer Rothschild, from the Jerusalemite author Rabbi Ben Zion Shlez. Jerusalem, 14th Elul (September 3), 1887.
Greeting card printed in gilt ink. In the center are illustrations of synagogues and holy sites in Palestine – arranged in the shape of a rose – including Rachel's Tomb, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Tomb of the Prophet Samuel, Tombs of the Kings of the House of David, the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, "The Synagogue and Study Hall above the Tomb of Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNess, " "The New Synagogue in the Hurva of Rabbi Yehuda HeHassid, " and "The Sephardi Synagogue from the Time of Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai." Inscribed in handwriting on the greeting card are the name of the addressee, "the Nobleman… Greatest of the Greats, Caring for the Welfare of his People, Splendor of the Nation, Crown of the Jews, Caretaker of Zion … the Baron MayerAlphonse [sic] de Rothschild"; the name of the sender, Rabbi Ben Zion Shlez of Jerusalem; and the date. At the top of the page is the biblical excerpt: "When a man taketh a new wife…" (Deuteronomy 24:5). Inside the card is a greeting in the form of a lengthy poem, written on the occasion of a wedding – perhaps that of one of the Baron Rothschild's daughters.
[1] f., folded in half, 29 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases and fold lines. Tears and several small holes to margins and to lengths of fold lines (mostly minor; two strips of adhesive tape for reinforcement). Matted, by means of three strips of adhesive tape.
2. Printed vellum sheet containing the text of a greeting delivered by Tel Aviv City Council to Edmond (Binyamin) James de Rothschild, "the Baron Rothschild." "Tel Aviv near Jaffa, " Shevat (January-February) 1914.
Vellum sheet in scroll-like format containing the printed text of a (Hebrew) greeting delivered by the Tel Aviv City Council to the Baron Rothschild on the occasion of his first visit to the city: "To our brother, greatest among his brothers, to Binyamin ben Ya'akov Baron de Rothschild… You are most welcome!... A blessing have you brought [with you] to the Land, and a blessing should you take from her… Small and meager was the Jewish community in the Land of Israel thirty years ago, when you arrived to rain upon it your generosity. And you bestowed upon it your silver and your gold, and above all else, your pure soul, your Hebrew heart. And behold, the good seed you have sowed, with your great strength and the goodwill of your pure heart, has borne plentiful fruit…"
This greeting to the Baron Edmond (Binyamin) James de Rothschild (1845-1934) was written in whole or in part by the author and journalist Mordecai Ben Hillel Hacohen (1856-1936), one of the founders of Tel Aviv and one of its earliest inhabitants. The greeting was written on a vellum scroll and presented to the Baron enclosed in a silver case, specially made by the silversmith Moshe Avraham Sokolka. In his memoirs, Ben Hillel Hacohen retells the story of the presentation to the Baron Rothschild: "The Baron disembarked from his ship, and did Tel Aviv the honor of spending the night [there], in [Menahem] Sheinkin's house… At the entrance to the courtyard, an honor guard was posted in the person of the hero of Petah Tikva, Avraham Shapira, with a long, curved sword dangling from his belt… The following morning, pupils from all the schools passed by the house, accompanied by their teachers, and the band played… The [City] Council of Tel Aviv presented a letter of greeting. I was entrusted with preparing the letter, and it was written on parchment, and the silversmith [Moshe Avraham] Sokolka handed it in an artistically made silver case" (see Mordecai Ben Hillel Hacohen, "Olami" , Vol. 5, Defus Poalim, Jerusalem, 1928/29; Hebrew).
Approx. 61.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Creases. Small holes, closed and open tears (mostly to margins; two open tears causing damage to text). Matted, by means of five strips of adhesive tape.
Provenance: The Yitzhak Einhorn Collection.
1. A "Shanah Tovah" New Year's greeting card to Baron Mayer Rothschild, from the Jerusalemite author Rabbi Ben Zion Shlez. Jerusalem, 14th Elul (September 3), 1887.
Greeting card printed in gilt ink. In the center are illustrations of synagogues and holy sites in Palestine – arranged in the shape of a rose – including Rachel's Tomb, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Tomb of the Prophet Samuel, Tombs of the Kings of the House of David, the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, "The Synagogue and Study Hall above the Tomb of Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNess, " "The New Synagogue in the Hurva of Rabbi Yehuda HeHassid, " and "The Sephardi Synagogue from the Time of Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai." Inscribed in handwriting on the greeting card are the name of the addressee, "the Nobleman… Greatest of the Greats, Caring for the Welfare of his People, Splendor of the Nation, Crown of the Jews, Caretaker of Zion … the Baron MayerAlphonse [sic] de Rothschild"; the name of the sender, Rabbi Ben Zion Shlez of Jerusalem; and the date. At the top of the page is the biblical excerpt: "When a man taketh a new wife…" (Deuteronomy 24:5). Inside the card is a greeting in the form of a lengthy poem, written on the occasion of a wedding – perhaps that of one of the Baron Rothschild's daughters.
[1] f., folded in half, 29 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases and fold lines. Tears and several small holes to margins and to lengths of fold lines (mostly minor; two strips of adhesive tape for reinforcement). Matted, by means of three strips of adhesive tape.
2. Printed vellum sheet containing the text of a greeting delivered by Tel Aviv City Council to Edmond (Binyamin) James de Rothschild, "the Baron Rothschild." "Tel Aviv near Jaffa, " Shevat (January-February) 1914.
Vellum sheet in scroll-like format containing the printed text of a (Hebrew) greeting delivered by the Tel Aviv City Council to the Baron Rothschild on the occasion of his first visit to the city: "To our brother, greatest among his brothers, to Binyamin ben Ya'akov Baron de Rothschild… You are most welcome!... A blessing have you brought [with you] to the Land, and a blessing should you take from her… Small and meager was the Jewish community in the Land of Israel thirty years ago, when you arrived to rain upon it your generosity. And you bestowed upon it your silver and your gold, and above all else, your pure soul, your Hebrew heart. And behold, the good seed you have sowed, with your great strength and the goodwill of your pure heart, has borne plentiful fruit…"
This greeting to the Baron Edmond (Binyamin) James de Rothschild (1845-1934) was written in whole or in part by the author and journalist Mordecai Ben Hillel Hacohen (1856-1936), one of the founders of Tel Aviv and one of its earliest inhabitants. The greeting was written on a vellum scroll and presented to the Baron enclosed in a silver case, specially made by the silversmith Moshe Avraham Sokolka. In his memoirs, Ben Hillel Hacohen retells the story of the presentation to the Baron Rothschild: "The Baron disembarked from his ship, and did Tel Aviv the honor of spending the night [there], in [Menahem] Sheinkin's house… At the entrance to the courtyard, an honor guard was posted in the person of the hero of Petah Tikva, Avraham Shapira, with a long, curved sword dangling from his belt… The following morning, pupils from all the schools passed by the house, accompanied by their teachers, and the band played… The [City] Council of Tel Aviv presented a letter of greeting. I was entrusted with preparing the letter, and it was written on parchment, and the silversmith [Moshe Avraham] Sokolka handed it in an artistically made silver case" (see Mordecai Ben Hillel Hacohen, "Olami" , Vol. 5, Defus Poalim, Jerusalem, 1928/29; Hebrew).
Approx. 61.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Creases. Small holes, closed and open tears (mostly to margins; two open tears causing damage to text). Matted, by means of five strips of adhesive tape.
Provenance: The Yitzhak Einhorn Collection.
Category
Zionism, the Land of Israel
Catalogue