In preparation for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a leather wallet made from the pages of Torah scrolls looted and desecrated by the Nazis in Poland arrived at the Shem Olam institute, which deals with the commemoration of the Holocaust, the Yediot Aharonot newspaper reports.
About three years ago, an Israeli woman went on a roots trip to Poland and, in one of the towns there, met a local resident who told her about his personal initiative to restore the ancient Jewish cemetery that exists there.
A close connection was established between the Israeli woman's family and the local resident which continues to this day, and even resulted in a visit to Israel.
During the visit, the resident related that he had been approached by the grandson of a Polish citizen whose grandfather had sewed wallets and leather bags, and discovered that a wallet sewn from desecrated Torah scrolls was still at his grandfather's house.
The grandson asked to express remorse for his grandfather's act and to donate the wallet as a museum exhibit.
"The Torah scroll that became the wallet is just one of countless examples of the Poles' contempt for and belittling of the feelings of Judaism. I thank Artur for returning the wallet and correcting his grandfather's sins," said Rabbi Avraham Krieger, chairman of Shem Olam, said.