Poland has agreed to return more than 90 Greek Jewish religious artefacts that were stolen during the Nazi occupation of Greece, according to the Greek Culture Ministry.
The collection includes 91 objects that were taken from synagogues and Jewish households in Greece by the Nazi-era Rosenberg Taskforce, an organisation responsible for confiscating cultural property across occupied Europe during World War II.
According to ekathimerini.com, among the items are 46 liturgical textiles, 17 pairs of Torah scrolls, nine individual Torah scrolls or fragments, and a pair of decorative hanging ornaments used in religious settings.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni travelled to Warsaw on Wednesday to formally receive the artefacts. She described their return as an important step in restoring historical justice and noted that it marks the first time Poland has repatriated cultural property to its country of origin.
“These relics … are part of the living memory of my country and of Jewish Greeks,” Mendoni said, highlighting their deep connection to Jewish communities that were destroyed during the Holocaust.
Polish Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska also described the return as “a historic moment,” noting that the process was completed in under two years thanks to cooperation between the cultural authorities of both countries.
The artefacts were located after World War II in castles in the Lower Silesia region, where the Nazis had stored looted property. In 1951 they were transferred to the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Greece first formally requested their return in 2001.
Source: ekathimerini.com
