Norwegian auction house withdraws sale of SS-looted Torah fragment following Israeli outcry

A Norwegian auction house canceled the sale of a valuable parchment fragment from a Jewish Torah scroll following intervention by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

On Sunday, Valkyrie Historical Auctions listed on its auction itinerary a "Very Old Piece of Jewish Torah Roll Plundered by German SS Soldiers During Shoah."  

In the item description, the auction house wrote that the fragment was sent to a relative as a souvenir. This piece is handwritten in calfskin and shows signs of damage, probably from a fire. The fragment is said to have been used by an SS soldier as wrapping paper to mail a package to an address in Germany. The soldier’s field unit and the address to which he sent the package were still partially legible in the handwriting. The estimated sale price was listed as $1,500 - $2,000.

Valkyrie Historical Auctions is a web-based platform auctioneer with the goal of offering authentic historical items to collectors and museums worldwide. It specializes in historical artifacts from World War II and Holocaust related material.

1250 items were for sale at Sunday's auction, ranging from postcards to private notebooks and photo albums.

Foreign Ministry outraged by sale

The news that the item was for sale sparked outrage from Israel's foreign ministry, which called it "a Nazi celebration in Oslo."

"It is a parchment sheet from a Torah scroll that was desecrated, looted and defaced by the SS, and was even used as wrapping paper by SS soldiers. At the same time, the Norwegian government is expected to cancel its financial support for visits by Norwegian students to extermination camps. Auctions of sacred texts looted by the Nazis: in. Visits to extermination camps: out," the ministry said, calling on the Norwegian government to put "an immediate stop to this moral obscenity." Recently, in its national budget proposal, the Norwegian government suggested ceasing funding for school trips to World War II concentration camps.

However, following the end of the auction, the item was listed as sold for $8,500, with an additional 25% buyer’s premium payable to the auction house, bringing the total to $10,625

A spokesperson for Valkyrie Historical Auctions told Norwegian media outlet Verdinytt that the Torah parchment had been withdrawn from sale just 10 minutes before the auction was due to begin, due to the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s strong reaction.

Regarding why it was listed as sold, the spokesperson said that the auction house had no practical way to remove the item from the auction so shortly before it began, and instead placed a bid themselves that was so high that nobody would outbid it.

Scroll set to be donated to nonprofit in California

Allegedly, the scroll will be donated to RUTH Remember Us The Holocaust, a nonprofit organization in San Diego, California.

“We are currently working with some organizations in the United States that display Holocaust-related artifacts in public spaces and preserve them for educational purposes. We believe that such an institution is a far more appropriate place for this piece than a private sale,” the spokesperson told Verdinytt.

On Elpeleg, a Norwegian-Israeli activist, told The Jerusalem Post that he hopes the same approach will be taken with all other personal belongings that once belonged to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. 

"These items should be returned to their rightful owners or their descendants. Where that is not possible, they should be donated to the Jewish Museum in Oslo," he said.

Elpeleg also said it is important that museums around the world dedicated to Holocaust education be given priority when purchasing historical artifacts from World War II, so that these objects can be used to educate future generations, preserve historical memory, and honor the victims of the Holocaust.

The Jerusalem Post reached out to the auction house for comment.