Intl Law Gift: Israeli museum refuses to return WWII spoils

Dutch News reported that the Israel Museum in Jerusalem is refusing to return a Tora cover stolen by the Nazis during World War II to the Jewish community in Leiden, Netherlands. According to the report, the 17th century cover for religious scrolls has been at the centre of a dispute over ownership for years and the Leiden community now hope the Dutch government will get involved, the paper says.

The Tora mantle had been given on loan to the Jewish Historical Museum in 1936; it was stolen by the Nazis during the occupation. The Israel Museum admitted receiving the cover from the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, an organization established in 1947 to deal with the collection and redistribution of unclaimed Jewish cultural property.

It took about sixty years to force the Museum to produce a list of over 700 items that ended up in the museum by way of the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction.

Source: Dutch News.