Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items

Babylonian Talmud – Munich, 1948 – First Post-Holocaust Printing of the Talmud for War Survivors

Opening: $2,000
Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000
Sold for: $4,500
Including buyer's premium
Babylonian Talmud – complete set. Munich-Heidelberg, 1948. "Published by the Union of Rabbis in the American Occupation Zone in Germany".
After WWII, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few copies that were available for the refugees. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the scorched soil of Germany; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a labor camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts" (Psalms 119).
19 volumes. Approx. 39 cm. Brittle paper in some volumes. Overall good condition. Stains. Dark ink stains to several leaves. Minor marginal tears. Tear to title page of Tractate Yevamot, without loss, repaired. Creases to some title pages. Stamps in several places. New (uniform) leather bindings.
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah
The Holocaust and and She'erit Hapletah