U.S. Attorney And HSI Announce Repatriation Of 16th-Century Hebrew Religious Text To Jewish Theological Seminary

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, announced today the repatriation of a valuable cultural artifact, the Chamisa Humshe Torrah (Five Books of Moses), Venice, Giovanni di Gara, 1588, and Haftarot, 1589, Miniature, 162+60 Leaves (the “Di Gara Text”) to the Jewish Theological Seminary of the University of Jewish Studies in Budapest, Hungary (the “Jewish Theological Seminary”) at a ceremony at the Hungarian Consulate in New York City.  The ceremony was attended by, among others, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton; Hungarian Ambassador to the United States Szabolcs Takács; Hungarian Consul General Istvan Pasztor; Rector of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Professor Gábor Balázs; and HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.

“The repatriation of the nearly 450-year-old Di Gara Text to the Jewish Theological Seminary marks the end of the text’s 80-year displacement from its rightful home,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.  “The Di Gara Text was looted from the seminary’s holdings during the occupation of Budapest by Nazi forces in 1944 and was found in the Southern District of New York in 2023.  Our offices are honored to have had a role in returning this precious text to where it belongs.”

According to the stipulated facts in the voluntary forfeiture order, statements made in court filings, and relevant online publications:

Giovanni di Gara was a Venetian printer of Hebrew books in the 16^th century.  The Di Gara Text is comprised of two works from the Jewish faith: the Chamisa Humshe Torrah (Five Books of Moses), or the Jewish Torah in book form, and the Haftarot, a series of selections from the Hebrew Bible.  An image of the leather-bound Di Gara text is included below.

Lelio Della Torre was an Italian Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived from approximately 1805 to 1871.  At some point during his life, the Di Gara Text came into Della Torre’s personal collection (the “Della Torre Collection” or the “Collection”).  Works in the Della Torre Collection were stamped to indicate that they belonged to the Collection.

In or about 1877, after Della Torre’s death, the Collection was sold to the Jewish Theological Seminary.  In 1944, in the midst of World War II and the Holocaust, Nazi forces invaded Budapest and seized and occupied the Jewish Theological Seminary, looting its holdings.  The Di Gara Text is believed to have disappeared during this period.

In March 2023, Hungarian officials notified the Department of Homeland Security that a volume that appeared to be the Di Gara Text was for sale for $19,000 on www.abebooks.com.  AbeBooks is an online marketplace used by independent vendors to sell, among other things, rare books.  An image of a stamp in the volume was consistent with the stamp used by Della Torre to mark items in his Collection.

In April 2023, Special Agents with HSI seized the Di Gara Text, and, on October 4, 2024, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued an order confirming the forfeiture of the Di Gara Text for the purposes of having this piece of cultural property returned to its rightful historical owner in Hungary.

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Mr. Clayton and Mr. Patel praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents from HSI’s Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Squad.  Mr. Clayton and Mr. Patel also thanked the Government of Hungary and the Hungarian Inspectorate of Cultural Goods for notifying the U.S. Government of the Di Gara Text’s presence in the Southern District of New York, providing helpful information to effectuate its seizure and forfeiture, and hosting today’s repatriation ceremony.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Gianforti is in charge of this matter.