Auction 61 - Rare and Important Items
Passover Haggadah - Toulouse, 1941 - Hagaddah from an Internment Camp in Vichy France
Opening: $1,000
Sold for: $3,750
Including buyer's premium
Passover Haggadah. Toulouse, France, [1941]. Mimeographed.
The Hagaddah was printed without a title page.
Shortly after the outbreak of WWII, French Jewish citizens of foreign birth as well as German and Austrian refugees were arrested by the French authorities and imprisoned in a number of internment camps in south-western France. This Haggadah was written in one of these camps, apparently from memory; mimeographed and distributed to the camp inmates in an attempt to properly celebrate the Seder despite the difficult conditions and alienation from the free world.
After the Haggadah's traditional finale of "Next year in Jerusalem" two lines have been added: "S. R. Kapel, Rabbin de Mulhouse, Aumonier des Camps, Toulouse" (Shmuel Rene Kapel, rabbi of Mulhouse, camp rabbi, Toulouse); followed by the Yiddish words: "This Haggadah will be the last one in exile! Bindiger"
Yudlov (Otzar HaHagadot 3847, p. 281) suggests that "Bindiger" is the name of the printer of the Haggadah, but Yosef Chaim Yerushalmi in his work Haggadah and History, posits that it is referring to the actual writer of the Haggadah.
R. Shmuel Rene Kapel (1907-1994) was a French-born rabbi who officiated in the communities of Belfort and the Paris suburbs during the 1930s. In 1939 he was appointed rabbi of Mulhouse and then of Orléans. With the outbreak of WWII, he was appointed military rabbi of the 5th Military Division of the French Army. In August 1940, upon becoming aware of the imprisonment of thousands of Jews in internment camps in south-western France, he began intensive efforts to assist and free them. He also was active in attempting to prevent the arrest of more Jews and to warn those in danger. He continued these activities until his arrest in 1942. R. Kapel survived the war with great tribulation and passed away in Jerusalem in 1994. See his book, Jewish Struggle in Occupied France, 1940-1944, Yad Vashem publishing, Jerusalem, 1981.
10 pp. 28 cm. Good condition. Slight staining. Small tears to the margins of some of the pages, without damage to the text. Ink spreading in several locations. Separate leaves, unbound.
One of only two Hebrew books printed in Toulouse. The other book is a Machzor for the High Holy Days, likewise mimeographed in the internment camps during the same time period.
Otzar Hahagadot 3847.
The Hagaddah was printed without a title page.
Shortly after the outbreak of WWII, French Jewish citizens of foreign birth as well as German and Austrian refugees were arrested by the French authorities and imprisoned in a number of internment camps in south-western France. This Haggadah was written in one of these camps, apparently from memory; mimeographed and distributed to the camp inmates in an attempt to properly celebrate the Seder despite the difficult conditions and alienation from the free world.
After the Haggadah's traditional finale of "Next year in Jerusalem" two lines have been added: "S. R. Kapel, Rabbin de Mulhouse, Aumonier des Camps, Toulouse" (Shmuel Rene Kapel, rabbi of Mulhouse, camp rabbi, Toulouse); followed by the Yiddish words: "This Haggadah will be the last one in exile! Bindiger"
Yudlov (Otzar HaHagadot 3847, p. 281) suggests that "Bindiger" is the name of the printer of the Haggadah, but Yosef Chaim Yerushalmi in his work Haggadah and History, posits that it is referring to the actual writer of the Haggadah.
R. Shmuel Rene Kapel (1907-1994) was a French-born rabbi who officiated in the communities of Belfort and the Paris suburbs during the 1930s. In 1939 he was appointed rabbi of Mulhouse and then of Orléans. With the outbreak of WWII, he was appointed military rabbi of the 5th Military Division of the French Army. In August 1940, upon becoming aware of the imprisonment of thousands of Jews in internment camps in south-western France, he began intensive efforts to assist and free them. He also was active in attempting to prevent the arrest of more Jews and to warn those in danger. He continued these activities until his arrest in 1942. R. Kapel survived the war with great tribulation and passed away in Jerusalem in 1994. See his book, Jewish Struggle in Occupied France, 1940-1944, Yad Vashem publishing, Jerusalem, 1981.
10 pp. 28 cm. Good condition. Slight staining. Small tears to the margins of some of the pages, without damage to the text. Ink spreading in several locations. Separate leaves, unbound.
One of only two Hebrew books printed in Toulouse. The other book is a Machzor for the High Holy Days, likewise mimeographed in the internment camps during the same time period.
Otzar Hahagadot 3847.