Moscow – The Schneerson Library cannot be taken out to the United States from Russia, presidential envoy for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy told Interfax.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
“The Schneerson collection is part of the Russian State Library’s collection, which, in turn, is indivisible and cannot be subject to separation,” he said.
“There are no reasons” for moving the collection. These archives have been in the Russian Federation’s ownership all through the 20th century, and cannot be alienated or moved on a permanent basis,” Shvydkoy said.
Pending the settlement of the Schneerson Library issue, no exhibits of Russian cultural values are possible in the United States, he also said.
“It is impossible to imagine a situation involving seizure of Russian cultural values, which is due to the fact, among other reasons, that special conditions must be created to keep them, which is difficult to do in places unfit for this. Therefore, we will not be able to send any of our exhibits to the United States pending solution of the problem,” he said.
A Russian-American agreement is being drafted that would help protect Russian cultural values from third parties’ claims, Shvydkoy said, adding, “The drat will be ready within a month, I think.”
The Schneerson Library is a collection of old Jewish books and manuscripts, put together by rabbis of the Chabad Jewish community in the late 18th century in Belarus. It is one of the Jewish religious relics.
Part of the collection amassed by Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, was nationalized by Bolsheviks in 1918 and ended up at the Russian State Library. The other part was taken out of the Soviet Union by Schneerson, who emigrated in the 1930s.
About 25,000 pages of manuscripts got into the hands of the Nazis, and were later seized by the Red Army and handed over to the Russian State Military Archive.
Lubavitchers (adherents of one of the Hasidic movements – IF) have sought the restitution of the Schneerson collection since the late 1980s. According to some reports, at the time Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin promised to James Baker, Secretary of State in the George Bush Sr. administration, that the holy documents will be returned to the Hasids.
On August 6, 2010, a federal judge in Washington, Royce Lamberth, ruled that the Hasids proved the legitimacy of their claims to the ancient Jewish books and manuscripts, which, in his definition, are kept at the Russian State Library and the Russian Military Archive illegally.
The Russian Foreign Ministry challenged the judgment.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle has assured Russian officials that the U.S. court ruling will not lead to a seizure of Russian cultural values, taken out to the United States for an exhibition.
This is a travesty, this important library belongs in Jewish hands. It’s too bad that the Lubavitcher rebbes were not big approvers of moifsim, otherwise getting the stuff out of Russia would be easy. Sprinkle a segulah here, a kvittel there, write a kamiya and poof! We got it.
Pretty ironic. They started with age old pogroms, murder, jail, attacks etc, “nationalize” (steal) the seforim, then they not only won’t give them back, but ‘proudly’ say they are part of the Russian heritage and are now commemorating their depraved brutality with stolen, holy books in a language they don’t understand, in their literary center of culture. Sounds like the germans 70 years ago.
“Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle has assured Russian officials that the U.S. court ruling will not lead to a seizure of Russian cultural values, taken out to the United States for an exhibition.”
Why not – if they can openly steal ours why can’t we hold theirs ransom?
It’s a shake down, they want rubles.
Putin is the good guy Obama is the bad one Right?
I wonder just what it would take to get the Russians to relent and give up what they really don’t care about, but are holding onto to irk the Jews.
But Israel gives them the Sergey compound in Jerusalem. WTH!!
Its unfortunate, but the issue has the potential to derail a number of planned exhibits of Russain artifacts in the U.S. Last week, a museum in Massachusetts was told without any prior notice that a collection of Russian Orthodox religious icons was being terminated and all the items had to be returned to Russia immediately. Several other shows have been cancelled because the Russian museums loaning the art are afraid that U.S. courts will sieze the Russian artwork in retaliation for the refusal to return some of these books claimed by Chabad. It would be a real shame if Americans are denied the opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest artwork.
To Russia, Rutzachtu gam guzaltu
#8 ,9 Bring out the real issues. The Russians know their cultural values were gained from the Comunist theft, or from Czarist oppresssion. Many privatwe groups could make claims on the Russians to return property it holds. If Chabad gets theirs then so could each group leaving Moscow with nothing to call its own.
However not using the Sergey compound as a bargining chip is just dumb.
Also, the Courts need to have a sit down with State and explain their Department and Ms. Clinton will be held in Contempt and subject to penalties for ignoring the Lawful Orders of a Federal Court.
#11 What would that help? Are the judges going to have her arrested? No. The notion of a balance of power has never been enforced. She would ignore the ruling and go about her business. Courts have no power over the Executive Branch if they don’t want to go along with the courts.
The solution is to build a Russian “museum” in the US, paid for by rich Russian Jewish Oligarchs, preferably in Crown Heights. Put it on permanent exhibit. Hire Chabad people to be the librarians. End of story. Everybody wins.
the best idea to build a Russian museum in the Sergey’s compound in Jerusualem and have there the Schneerson Library.
I like how he calls seforim “It is one of the Jewish religious relics.” They’re seforim to be read, not stuck is some G-dless communist’s file cabinet just to irk Jews just a bit more.
“Part of the collection amassed by Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, was nationalized by Bolsheviks in 1918 and ended up at the Russian State Library. The other part was taken out of the Soviet Union by Schneerson, who emigrated in the 1930s.” Also nice how it’s agreed that they stole it from Chabad. But, it must be okay, because the Russian government says so.
Who knows what treasures of Torah and Chassidus can be found in tens of thousands of pages! The Chabad Library would have to add many more to their staff to cover it all.
So apparently they were stolen from Belarus. That country should sue the Russians also, in the World Court.