Recently rediscovered books plundered by the Nazis more than six decades ago were returned to Berlin’s Jewish community on Wednesday in a ceremony at the city’s landmark synagogue.
The Berlin Central and Regional Library formally handed over 10 books and three journal volumes discovered among more than 200,000 volumes being examined by researchers as part of a project to establish their origin, with a focus on restitution.
One of the books is from noted author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and dates back to 1890. There is also a travel guide to Palestine from 1934 and a book on Jewish history “from the destruction of the First Temple to the present,” that was published in 1913. All are in German.
Though experts say none of the books have significant monetary value, they offer a sobering glimpse of the country’s history.
“It’s the ordinariness of these books that remind us of the horrible reality of the persecution of the Jews during the Nazi era”, Germany’s top official for cultural affairs, Bernd Neumann, said at the ceremony at Berlin’s New Synagogue.
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