Auction 4 Important Hebrew Books
By Royal Auction House
Jul 4, 2022
1555 Route 37, Toms River, NJ 08755, United States

The auction has ended

LOT 49:

The Survivors’ Talmud – Complete Set – Munich 1948.

Sold for: $2,600
Start price:
$ 2,500
Estimated price :
$3,000 - $4,000
Buyer's Premium: 25%

The Survivors’ Talmud – Complete Set – Munich 1948.

Presented here is a complete set of the famed “Survivors’ Talmud”, printed just three years after the Holocaust – the very first complete set of the Talmud to be printed in Europe after WWII. 

In the aftermath of the destruction of European Jewry, virtually everything was destroyed, leaving the survivors with nothing. Amongst those survivors were Yeshiva students who desired to obtain the Talmud so that they could pursue their studies. In the summer of 1946, two volumes of the Talmud were published in Germany – Nedarim and Kiddushin – by the Rabbinical Representative of the “Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the American Occupied Zone”. Once their mission was accomplished, they embarked on printing the entire Talmud – complete in 19 volumes – which is what we have before us today. 

Upon its publication in December 1948, an article entitled “A New Talmud in Germany” appeared in The Sydney Jewish News celebrating this historic event. It details how significant it was for the Talmud to be reprinted again in Germany, the very same place where the Nazis burned the Talmud just several years prior. This is also documented in the publisher's special dedication to the United States Army, in recognition for their pivotal role in rescuing European Jewry, as detailed below.

As can be expected, this edition was produced under dire conditions, thus making a complete set very rare. See Prof. Abraham J. Karp who writes about the set found today in the Library of Congress (From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, Library of Congress, 1991). According to him, the army was initially only ready to publish only 50 sets. He goes on further to say that: "By 1950, when the edition was completed, many more volumes had come off the presses, but complete sets are a rarity. It is most appropriate that among the treasures of the Library of Congress's Hebraic Section is such a complete set”. 

Each volume is complete with two title pages. The first title page is illustrated, with a drawing of a Holy Land vista and the inscription, "From bondage to redemption; from deep darkness to a great light". At the bottom, a depiction of barbed wire and a slave labor camp and a verse from Psalms (119:87): "They all but obliterated me from the earth; but I forsook not Thy precepts." 

On the reverse side of the title page, Rabbis Snieg and Rose (the publishers, who were survivors themselves), tell the story of its publication (translated from Hebrew):

Through the mercy of the Blessed One, we have been enabled to publish this edition of the Talmud, a work of beauty and splendor... Engraved in our memories is that bitter day in the ghetto, when the decree came from the Nazis, may their memory be blotted out, to gather up all the books into one place to destroy them. The peril of death hung over those who would dare hide a book.... All our holy books were taken from us for abuse and set afire. Now, because of the Lord's great mercies, a remnant of His people remains, saved from the sword of their accursed destroyers, but without a book in their hands.... We therefore turned to the American Army Command in Germany to help us, and through the intercession of Dr. Rabbi Philip Bernstein, our desire was with God's help fulfilled.... During our overlong exile, our holy books were burned once and again by monarchs and governments. This is the first time in the long history of the Jewish people, that a government has helped us to publish the books of the Talmud, which are our life and length of days. Armies of the United States brought us from death to life, and they now protect us in this land. Through their aid the Talmud now appears again in Germany.

Also featured is a special dedication (on verso) to the United States Army, written in English: 

“This edition of the Talmud is dedicated to the United States Army. This Army played a major role in the rescue of the Jewish people from total annihilation, and after the defeat of Hitler bore the major burden of sustaining the DPs of the Jewish faith. This special edition of the Talmud published in the very land where, but a short time ago, everything Jewish and of Jewish inspiration was anathema, will remain a symbol of the indestructibility of the Torah. The Jewish DPs [Displaced Persons] will never forget the generous impulses and the unprecedented humanitarianism of the American forces, to whom they owe so much”. 


This edition is without doubt one of the most significant and historic editions of the Talmud ever printed. It gives us a small glimpse into the world of Holocaust survivors – whose world was completely destroyed before them, yet full of hope and optimism – determined to live on and carry the torch of Torah into the future. 

A full set complete in 19 volumes, in overall very good condition. Bound in original bindings, some wear and loss to spines, each neatly covered with tape. Measures approx. 39cm.