American Hasidim freed from Russian religious library

[Евгений]

"Schneerson Library" is a collection of ancient Jewish religious literature, consisting of 12,000 books and 50,000 documents, including 381 of the manuscript. The beginning of this library in the XVIII century, put the head of the community of Hasidic village of Lubavitch Yitzchak Schneerson, the spiritual heirs who now live in the U.S. and represent the religious movement of Chabad. They consider a collection of sacred, that's just kept "Schneerson Library" in Russia, giving it Hasidim no one is going.
In August 2010 Federal District Court in Washington ruled that Russia should return the Chabad of the meeting Schneerson, namely 25 thousand pages of manuscripts. Then Russia's reaction was very hard: in the official Foreign Ministry statement called the ruling "null and void from the legal point of view" and "a flagrant violation of generally accepted norms and principles of international law."

In Russia, the library is kept, since its inception, ie 1772. In 1915, in the midst of the First World War, when the Lubavitch were dangerously close to the front line, a descendant of the founder of the library Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson had left the village and went to Rostov-on-Don. Part of his library - about 12,000 books - he deposited in Moscow. Three years later, this collection was nationalized and soon departed Rumyantsev Library (later the Russian State Library), which stores and now.

Читать дальше... 

In 1927, Schneerson had left the Soviet Union, taking with them a different part of the library, in total there are about 25 thousand pages of manuscripts. At the beginning of World War II, Schneerson hastily left Poland, where he then was, in the U.S., leaving the library, which eventually fell into the hands of the Nazis. After the war, these documents have been returned to the Soviet Union and placed on file the Red Army (now Russian State Military Archive). In 1950, Yosef Schneerson died, and the case was continued by his son, who led the movement, Chabad, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Over the next after that period, until the decision of the American judge on the case of "library Schneerson, the situation has acquired so many details that tell all they can, just not having a sense of pity for the reader. Suffice it to note that the argument for the library began a long time ago and intensified in the early 1990's. Then, after the collapse of the USSR, the Lubavitcher Hasidim staged at the Russian State Library for many pickets and hunger strikes, and they almost succeeded in my goals.
In October 1991, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the RSFSR recognized the legitimate requirements of the Hasidim, and decided to give them a library. However, to protect the assembly stood up, then director of the RSL Victor Derjaguin, who refused to follow the decision of the court, and Culture Minister Nikolai Gubenko. As a result, despite the intervention of the U.S. Senate in February 1992, all decisions regarding the transfer of library Chabad were canceled, and she stayed in Russia. Continuation of the story was a claim Lubavitcher Hasidim in court in Washington, filed in 2006.

Remember once again the situation around the "Schneerson Library" made a recent speech the Minister of Culture of Russia, Alexander Avdeev. In the radio station Ekho Moskvy, he said that this library - the legitimate property of Russia, and added that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Russian state, although "under international law the State not have jurisdiction." Moreover, Avdeev develop the theme in an unexpected way, saying that because of this scandal in August 2010, Russian art exhibitions ceased to carry in the U.S..

The minister said the decision was made because there are legal risks for their arrest. However, contrary to the statement Avdeev, October 23, 2010 at the Museum of Russian Icons Massachusetts opened an exhibition from the Museum of icons of Andrei Rublev, which runs until July 25, 2011. Judging from the poster on the site of the American Museum, the icons no one has yet been arrested.

In addition to the object of claims Chabad in Russia has another collection of Hebrew literature, the issue of return is considered at the highest level. This is the library of Baron Gunzburg, a prominent representative of the dynasty Ginzburg, one of the most influential Jewish families in St. Petersburg of the XIX century. Ginsburg died in 1910 and, unlike Schneerson, who left no will, his collection of books and documents ordered to transfer the Jewish Public Library in Jerusalem. But the last will of the baron interrupted to execute first World War, and then the revolution.

As a result, in 1918, a meeting of Baron Ginzburg was also nationalized and transferred Rumyantsev Library. At that time it had about 35,000 works and is considered the second largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the world, but in the XX century poumenshilos. However, most of it is still kept at the RSL. The issue of transferring the library Ginzburg Israel raised during the visit of Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow in September 2009. It was expected that he will be affected and during the visit of Dmitry Medvedev to Israel in January 2011, but the visit was canceled. According to rumors, published in the Israeli media, just because of the library Ginzburg.

Total in Russia are two important meetings for Jewish books and manuscripts, which in the opinion of many, we must return at least for the restoration of historic justice. Difficult to assess, however, where it is, the historical validity. Even harder to imagine that this issue is resolved now, when the "reset" of relations with the United States expressed a fear of sending back art exhibitions.

Access to the Hebrew books to obtain that Chabad is making so much effort, you can get in a specially designated room at the Center for Oriental Literature of the RSL. Library card library will cost just $ 100.
Alex Kadaner
Related Links

    * Minister of Culture has put a condition to return Russian exhibitions in the U.S. - Lenta.ru, 20.01.2011
    * "Looking Out" by Alexander Avdeev - Ekho Moskvy, 01.19.1910
    * Envoy Medvedev - in Israel: not a word about the Jewish treasures - IzRus, 24.12.10
    * Library Schneerson. Help - Reuters, 12/08/1910
http://lenta.ru/articles/2011/01/20/shneerson/

-------------------------------------------------- --------------
Strange situation ..

Сообщение от Eugene

In October 1991, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the RSFSR declared Hasidic legitimate demands and decided to give them a library.

Сообщение от Eugene

In August 2010 Federal District Court in Washington ruled that Russia should return the Chabad of the meeting Schneerson, namely 25 thousand pages of manuscripts.

courts took absolutely the right decision ...
And it is iniquity:

Сообщение от Eugene

However, to protect the assembly stood up, then director of the RSL Victor Derjaguin, who refused to follow the decision of the court, and Culture Minister Nikolai Gubenko. As a result, despite the intervention of the U.S. Senate in February 1992, all decisions regarding the transfer of library Chabad were canceled, and she stayed in Russia.