Survivors' Talmud
Encyclopedia
The Survivors' Talmud was an edition of the Talmud
published in the U.S. Zone of Allied-occupied Germany on behalf of Holocaust
survivors housed in displaced persons (DP) camps
. It was the first and only known edition of the Talmud to be published by a government body. While the project was approved in September 1946, delays in acquiring a complete set of the Talmud to work from, as well as obtaining printing materials, pushed off publication until 1949–1950, by which time most of the survivors had emigrated from Europe. Extant copies of the Survivors' Talmud are now collector's items.
(Torah books), siddur
im (Jewish prayer books), and machzorim (High Holy Days
prayer books). The Vaad Hatzalah
, an Orthodox
rescue organization founded in 1939 to save rabbis and yeshiva students in Poland and Lithuania, printed hundreds of thousands of copies of these and other religious books to meet the survivors' needs, including 10,000 pocket-size editions of individual tractates of the Talmud.
At the same time, a group of rabbis led by Samuel A. Snieg, chief rabbi
of the U.S. Zone, and Samuel Jakob Rose, both survivors of the Dachau concentration camp, conceived the idea of printing an entire, full-size Talmud in Germany as a sign of the Jewish people's survival despite efforts to annihilate them. Snieg connected with Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, a New York Reform
rabbi who served as adviser on Jewish affairs to General Joseph McNarney
, Military Governor of Occupied Germany, and Bernstein arranged for the rabbis to meet with McNarney. Bernstein summed up the rabbis' request in a memorandum: "[Would the army provide] the tools for the perpetuation of religion, for the students who crave these texts spring from the strongly Orthodox element? ... A 1947 edition ... published in Germany under the auspices of the American Army of Occupation, would be an historic work". The general approved the request.
The signed agreement, titled "Agreement Between the American Joint Distribution Committee and the Rabbinical Council, U.S. Zone Germany, Regarding the Printing of the New Edition of the Talmud" and dated 11 September 1946, called for the project to be supervised by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
(the "Joint") and the U.S. Army, and for expenses to be covered by the Joint and the German government. According to the agreement, 3,000 copies of a 16-volume set of the Talmud would be printed within one year. The Talmud project would be managed by a team of government and military staffers.
The U.S. Army acquisitioned the Carl Winter Printing Plant in Heidelberg
, Germany, which had produced Nazi propaganda literature during the war. However, the sheer size of the project – which required "millions of sheets of paper, tens of thousands of meters of bonds and strips of linen paper, cord, typesetting, cardboard, photoengraving equipment, and a permit for electricity use" – made the army rethink its commitment. In February 1947 the project was scaled down from 3,000 sets to 50 sets. (Later, the Joint financed the printing of several hundred additional sets.)
Another delay ensued when a material called collodion
, which enables the transfer of page images to zinc photographic plate
s, was found to have been banned during the war and was only available in the city of Zwickau
in the Soviet occupation zone. As the Cold War
had begun, Zwickau was unreachable, so the collodion had to be ordered from America. Meanwhile, Germany's currency crisis delayed the German's government's funding of the project until the implementation of economic reforms in spring 1948.
When printing began, it became clear that the original projection of 16 volumes per set was inadequate, so 19 volumes were planned for each set. The first copies were finally printed in May 1949. In a moving ceremony on 13 May 1949 in the Berlin headquarters of the U.S. Army, Rabbi Snieg presented the first copy of the Talmud to General Lucius Clay
, Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, with the words, "I bless your hand in presenting to you this volume embodying the highest spiritual wisdom of our people". Chaim Weizmann
, first president of Israel
, also received a copy.
The final run was completed on 16 November 1950. Approximately 500 sets were printed.
In the first volume of the Talmud, this dedication appeared in English:
Each volume of the Talmud also included this dedication in English:
of Yeshiva University
was responsible for choosing recipients; it sent complete sets of the Talmud to some religious and secular institutions in the U.S. and Canada, and single volumes to others. It also gave volumes to Holocaust survivors and people who had been involved in the Talmud project.
Because of its limited printing, the Survivors' Talmud became a collector's item. Few complete sets of the Survivors' Talmud are still extant. In 2001, one volume was exhibited at the Chrysler Museum of Art
and thereafter went on a national tour. Also in 2001, the American Jewish Historical Society
, in conjunction with the Tidewater Jewish Foundation of Norfolk, Virginia
, prepared a traveling exhibition for U.S. military bases around the world, telling the story of the Survivors' Talmud and the role of the U.S. Army in its publication. In 2005, a copy of the Survivors' Talmud was part of a Yeshiva University Museum
exhibition entitled "Printing The Talmud: From Bomberg To Scottenstein".
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
published in the U.S. Zone of Allied-occupied Germany on behalf of Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivors housed in displaced persons (DP) camps
Displaced persons camp
A displaced persons camp or DP camp is a temporary facility for displaced persons coerced into forced migration. The term is mainly used for camps established after World War II in West Germany and in Austria, as well as in the United Kingdom, primarily for refugees from Eastern Europe and for the...
. It was the first and only known edition of the Talmud to be published by a government body. While the project was approved in September 1946, delays in acquiring a complete set of the Talmud to work from, as well as obtaining printing materials, pushed off publication until 1949–1950, by which time most of the survivors had emigrated from Europe. Extant copies of the Survivors' Talmud are now collector's items.
Background
At the end of World War II, 250,000 to 300,000 Jewish survivors remained in Western and Central Europe, housed in DP camps. These survivors, and the schools and yeshivas that sprang up to educate them, were in desperate need of sefarimSefer (Hebrew)
Sefer in simple Hebrew is a word that means any kind of "book" It is derived from the same Hebrew root-word as sofer , sifriyah and safrut ....
(Torah books), siddur
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
im (Jewish prayer books), and machzorim (High Holy Days
High Holy Days
The High Holidays or High Holy Days, in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim , may mean:#strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ;...
prayer books). The Vaad Hatzalah
Vaad Hatzalah
Vaad Hatzalah was an organization to rescue Jews in Europe from the Holocaust.It was founded in November 1939 by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada...
, an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rescue organization founded in 1939 to save rabbis and yeshiva students in Poland and Lithuania, printed hundreds of thousands of copies of these and other religious books to meet the survivors' needs, including 10,000 pocket-size editions of individual tractates of the Talmud.
At the same time, a group of rabbis led by Samuel A. Snieg, chief rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of the U.S. Zone, and Samuel Jakob Rose, both survivors of the Dachau concentration camp, conceived the idea of printing an entire, full-size Talmud in Germany as a sign of the Jewish people's survival despite efforts to annihilate them. Snieg connected with Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, a New York Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
rabbi who served as adviser on Jewish affairs to General Joseph McNarney
Joseph T. McNarney
Joseph Taggart McNarney was a United States Army Air Forces general officer who served as Military Governor of occupied Germany.-Early years:...
, Military Governor of Occupied Germany, and Bernstein arranged for the rabbis to meet with McNarney. Bernstein summed up the rabbis' request in a memorandum: "[Would the army provide] the tools for the perpetuation of religion, for the students who crave these texts spring from the strongly Orthodox element? ... A 1947 edition ... published in Germany under the auspices of the American Army of Occupation, would be an historic work". The general approved the request.
The signed agreement, titled "Agreement Between the American Joint Distribution Committee and the Rabbinical Council, U.S. Zone Germany, Regarding the Printing of the New Edition of the Talmud" and dated 11 September 1946, called for the project to be supervised by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is a worldwide Jewish relief organization headquartered in New York. It was established in 1914 and is active in more than 70 countries....
(the "Joint") and the U.S. Army, and for expenses to be covered by the Joint and the German government. According to the agreement, 3,000 copies of a 16-volume set of the Talmud would be printed within one year. The Talmud project would be managed by a team of government and military staffers.
Project history
Before printing could begin, a complete set of the Talmud had to be found to use as a prototype. In the 1930s and early 1940s, the Nazi government had stolen, looted and burned many of the religious books belonging to German Jews, and not one complete set of the Talmud could be located in Western Europe. A complete set was difficult to find in America, too, since yeshiva students had relied on editions printed in Poland. Finally, two complete sets were found in New York and sent to Germany by the Joint.The U.S. Army acquisitioned the Carl Winter Printing Plant in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Germany, which had produced Nazi propaganda literature during the war. However, the sheer size of the project – which required "millions of sheets of paper, tens of thousands of meters of bonds and strips of linen paper, cord, typesetting, cardboard, photoengraving equipment, and a permit for electricity use" – made the army rethink its commitment. In February 1947 the project was scaled down from 3,000 sets to 50 sets. (Later, the Joint financed the printing of several hundred additional sets.)
Another delay ensued when a material called collodion
Collodion
Collodion is a flammable, syrupy solution of pyroxylin in ether and alcohol. There are two basic types; flexible and non-flexible. The flexible type is often used as a surgical dressing or to hold dressings in place. When painted on the skin, collodion dries to form a flexible cellulose film...
, which enables the transfer of page images to zinc photographic plate
Photographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a means of photography. A light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was applied to a glass plate. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile...
s, was found to have been banned during the war and was only available in the city of Zwickau
Zwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
in the Soviet occupation zone. As the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
had begun, Zwickau was unreachable, so the collodion had to be ordered from America. Meanwhile, Germany's currency crisis delayed the German's government's funding of the project until the implementation of economic reforms in spring 1948.
When printing began, it became clear that the original projection of 16 volumes per set was inadequate, so 19 volumes were planned for each set. The first copies were finally printed in May 1949. In a moving ceremony on 13 May 1949 in the Berlin headquarters of the U.S. Army, Rabbi Snieg presented the first copy of the Talmud to General Lucius Clay
Lucius D. Clay
General Lucius Dubignon Clay was an American officer and military governor of the United States Army known for his administration of Germany immediately after World War II. Clay was deputy to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1945; deputy military governor, Germany 1946; commander in chief, U.S....
, Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, with the words, "I bless your hand in presenting to you this volume embodying the highest spiritual wisdom of our people". Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, first president of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, also received a copy.
The final run was completed on 16 November 1950. Approximately 500 sets were printed.
Title page and dedications
The title page of each volume depicts a Nazi slave labor camp surrounded by barbed wire. Above it are palm trees and scenes in Israel. These images are connected by the Hebrew words: "From bondage to freedom, from darkness to a great light".In the first volume of the Talmud, this dedication appeared in English:
In 1946 we turned to the American Army Commander to assist us in the publication of the Talmud. In all the years of exile it has often happened that various governments and forces have burned Jewish books. Never did any publish them for us. This is the first time in Jewish history that a government has helped in the publication of the Talmud, which is the source of our being and the length of our days. The Army of the United States saved us from death, protects us in this land, and through their aid does the Talmud appear again in Germany.
Each volume of the Talmud also included this dedication in English:
This edition of the Talmud is dedicated to the United States Army. The army played a major role in the rescue of the Jewish people from total annihilation and after the defeat of Hitler bore the major burden of sustaining the DPs of the Jewish faith. This special edition of the Talmud published in the very land where, but a short time ago, everything Jewish and of Jewish inspiration was anathema, will remain a symbol of the indestructibility of the Torah. The Jewish DPs will never forget the generous impulses and the unprecedented humanitarianism of the American forces, to whom they owe so much.
(Signed) Rabbi Samuel A. Snieg, Chief Rabbi of the U.S. Zone
Distribution
By the time the Survivors' Talmud was printed, only 10,000 to 15,000 Jewish survivors remained in Germany. The Joint and the German government decided to keep 40 sets in German libraries and other institutions, and to send the rest of the printing to Jewish communal organizations and libraries around the world. In the United States, a committee headed by Rabbi Leo JungLeo Jung
Rabbi Leo Jung was one of the major architects of American Orthodox Judaism.-Background and education:...
of Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
was responsible for choosing recipients; it sent complete sets of the Talmud to some religious and secular institutions in the U.S. and Canada, and single volumes to others. It also gave volumes to Holocaust survivors and people who had been involved in the Talmud project.
Because of its limited printing, the Survivors' Talmud became a collector's item. Few complete sets of the Survivors' Talmud are still extant. In 2001, one volume was exhibited at the Chrysler Museum of Art
Chrysler Museum of Art
The Chrysler Museum of Art is an art museum in the Ghent district of Norfolk, Virginia. The museum was originally founded in 1933 as the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. In 1971, automotive heir, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. , donated most of his extensive collection to the museum...
and thereafter went on a national tour. Also in 2001, the American Jewish Historical Society
American Jewish Historical Society
The American Jewish Historical Society was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of the American Jewish heritage and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation and dissemination of materials relating to American...
, in conjunction with the Tidewater Jewish Foundation of Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, prepared a traveling exhibition for U.S. military bases around the world, telling the story of the Survivors' Talmud and the role of the U.S. Army in its publication. In 2005, a copy of the Survivors' Talmud was part of a Yeshiva University Museum
Yeshiva University Museum
The Yeshiva University Museum is a teaching museum and the cultural arm of Yeshiva University. Along with the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Foundation, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, it is a member organization of the Center for...
exhibition entitled "Printing The Talmud: From Bomberg To Scottenstein".