“The Scrolls and Manuscripts that were illegally confiscated during the Holocaust contain priceless historical information that belongs to the descendants of families that lived and flourished in Jewish communities before the Holocaust. This Office hopes that today’s seizure will contribute to the restoration of pre-Holocaust history in Eastern Europe,” Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said in a statement.
At least one of those items was sold after the auction house was contacted by law enforcement officials.
No one has been criminally charged in the case, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York told The Washington Post. The Department of Justice statement does not say who confiscated the scrolls nor name the seller.
Daniel Kestenbaum, chairman of the auction house which specializes in Judaica, said the seller “rescued” the artifacts after they were “tragically” abandoned in Soviet-bloc countries. He said in a statement that the auction house supports federal authorities’ efforts to resolve “this meta-historical problem.”




