Romanian Jews Try to Halt US Auction of Historic Document

The Jewish community in Cluj in Northern Transylvania has asked auction house Kestenbaum and Company to halt the sell-off of a 19th Century handwritten memorial register of the city's Jewish burials that it believes was stolen during the Holocaust, ahead of bidding that is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

The letter from the Jewish community, which has also been published by Romanian magazine Baabel, argues that the register was "illegally appropriated by unidentified persons".

It argues that because it was stolen, it "falls under the provisions of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty and the 2009 Declaration of Terezin".

Signed by 46 states including the US, Romania and Hungary, under whose administration Cluj was during most of WWII, the treaties provide for the restitution to their rightful owners of goods illegally appropriated by states or their citizens.

"According to the aforementioned peace treaty, they should be returned to the 'community of survivors', in this case, the Jewish Community of Cluj," the letter says.

The 19th Century register that is being auctioned. Photo: Bidspirit.com

Robert Schwartz, the president of the Cluj Jewish Community, told BIRN that no answer has been received from the company so far.

"We expect to hear from them in time," Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the memorial register "belongs to the Jews of Cluj and not to any individual".

"We don't want to fight with anyone, we want to find out how it got there, from whom," he said.

"It might be that it got there from one of us [a member of the community], but I don't think so," he added.

He said that he has also approached the World Jewish Restitution Organisation for assistance to recover the document.

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