A fragment of a Torah scroll taken from Jews during the Holocaust and defaced by the Nazis has been donated to a Holocaust charity after it was auctioned off for $8,500 in Norway, despite an appeal from Israel for the sale to be stopped.
The parchment was sold on Sunday by Valkyrie Historical Auctions in Oslo, prompting condemnation from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and calls from Jewish heritage organisations for the artefact to be recovered.
The final price was reportedly more than four times the pre-sale estimate.
A Nazi celebration in Oslo.
Today in Oslo, the auction house "Valkyrie Historical Auctions" is expected to hold an auction of a fragment of a Torah scroll that was looted by German SS soldiers during the Holocaust.
It is a parchment sheet from a Torah scroll that was… pic.twitter.com/mXHzVidj9i
Other items offered at the same auction included tefillin, a dress bearing a yellow Star of David and a set of striped pyjamas from a Belgian concentration camp.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had urged the Norwegian government to intervene before the auction, describing the sale as a “moral obscenity” and criticising the commercial trade in sacred Jewish objects stolen by the Nazis.
In a statement posted on X under the heading “A Nazi celebration in Oslo”, the ministry said the parchment had been “looted and defaced by SS soldiers during the Holocaust and subsequently used as wrapping paper”.
It also drew attention to reports that Norway was considering “cancelling financial support for school visits to former Nazi extermination camps”.
“Auctions of sacred texts looted by the Nazis — IN. Visits to extermination camps — OUT,” the ministry wrote.
It called on the Norwegian government to stop the sale immediately, but the auction went ahead over the weekend.
However, the auction house subsequently confirmed that the artefact had been donated to Remember Us The Holocaust (RUTH) in San Diego, California.
According to the auction catalogue, the fragment is made from calfskin parchment and bears handwritten Hebrew text in black ink. It is damaged by fire and has suffered other deterioration.
The description stated that the parchment had been found at a flea market in Poland several years ago. It suggested that the scroll had probably been stolen from a Polish synagogue during the German occupation and described the item as suitable for framing.
A spokesperson for Valkyrie Historic Auctions said: “We are pleased to confirm that the item in question has been donated to Remember Us The Holocaust (RUTH) in San Diego, California, an organization dedicated to preserving, documenting, and exhibiting Holocaust history and artifacts for education, remembrance, and future generations.
“Remember Us The Holocaust has gained recognition beyond San Diego through its participation in Comic-Con International, where Holocaust artifacts and stories are shared with an international audience, reaching people who may never otherwise have the opportunity to encounter these pieces of history.
“Remember Us The Holocaust is currently on display at the San Diego Public Library in downtown San Diego, with grant funding from the City and County of San Diego.
“The current exhibit, San Diego Holocaust Survivors Share Their Stories, brings together authentic artifacts, photographs, documents, and the personal stories of Holocaust survivors from the San Diego community.
“The exhibition is scheduled to remain on display through 2028, with artifacts periodically rotated throughout the exhibition. This allows RUTH to share a broader portion of its collection with the public while also providing appropriate preservation and conservation time for particularly rare or delicate materials.
“As a result, the donated artifact will have the opportunity to be exhibited and interpreted as part of an ongoing educational programme rather than simply placed into storage or a private collection.
“We believe the decision to donate this artifact to Remember Us The Holocaust provides it with an appropriate home and, most importantly, ensures that its history will continue to be preserved, remembered, studied, and shared with the world.”
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