Auction 77 - Judaica – Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial
A Presentation Bible – Engraved Silver Plaque with a Dedication to Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski – Lodz Ghetto, 1941
Opening: $800
Sold for: $1,625
Including buyer's premium
A small presentation Bible given to the head of the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, mounted with a silver plaque made by a Jewish silversmith in the ghetto. Lodz Ghetto, December 1941.
An incomplete copy of the Bible (Berlin: Daniel Ernst Jablonski, 1710), presumably re-bound in the ghetto and presented to Rumkowski. A silver plaque mounted on the front board, with an engraved dedication: "Exalted President C.M.R. [Chaim Mordechai Rumkowski], Bible, Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 8th Tevet 5702 [December 1941]". Engraved above the dedication are two Stars of David and a seven-branched menorah, whose candles send beams of light to the words "Exalted President". The dedication and illustration are surrounded by a narrow olive branch border, the lower left corner imitating a fold. Additional handwritten dedication on front endpaper: "As an eternal keepsake, from Tzvi Peretz".
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto throughout its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult. Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be sent to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was sent with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
The Yad VaShem collection of artifacts contains several unique silver artifacts made by Jewish silversmiths in the Lodz Ghetto during the Holocaust, some of which were gifted to Rumkowski.
Incomplete copy of the Bible, missing the books Bereshit, Devarim and Yeshaya. Several other leaves are missing and several leaves are bound out of order. The book was re-bound in a cloth-covered binding, with a shoelace bookmark. Approx. 10.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor damage. Small marginal tears to several leaves. Open tears to several leaves (repaired with tape and paper). Ownership inscription on the last leaf of Malachi (blank).
An incomplete copy of the Bible (Berlin: Daniel Ernst Jablonski, 1710), presumably re-bound in the ghetto and presented to Rumkowski. A silver plaque mounted on the front board, with an engraved dedication: "Exalted President C.M.R. [Chaim Mordechai Rumkowski], Bible, Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 8th Tevet 5702 [December 1941]". Engraved above the dedication are two Stars of David and a seven-branched menorah, whose candles send beams of light to the words "Exalted President". The dedication and illustration are surrounded by a narrow olive branch border, the lower left corner imitating a fold. Additional handwritten dedication on front endpaper: "As an eternal keepsake, from Tzvi Peretz".
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto throughout its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult. Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be sent to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was sent with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
The Yad VaShem collection of artifacts contains several unique silver artifacts made by Jewish silversmiths in the Lodz Ghetto during the Holocaust, some of which were gifted to Rumkowski.
Incomplete copy of the Bible, missing the books Bereshit, Devarim and Yeshaya. Several other leaves are missing and several leaves are bound out of order. The book was re-bound in a cloth-covered binding, with a shoelace bookmark. Approx. 10.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor damage. Small marginal tears to several leaves. Open tears to several leaves (repaired with tape and paper). Ownership inscription on the last leaf of Malachi (blank).
The Holocaust and She'erit Hapletah
The Holocaust and She'erit Hapletah