Didan Notzach - Victory of the Seforim
2005-02-25
Lisa Daftari, Contributing Writer
In a continuing effort to recover an archive of century-old original
manuscripts and texts left behind in the former Soviet Union in the
early 20th century, Chabad is taking the Russian Federation to the
International Court of Law.
A Santa Monica-based law firm has filed suit on behalf of the Chabad
organization to retrieve the collection of rare and original books and
manuscripts on philosophy, religious law and prayer produced by the
founders of the movement. The lawsuit contends that the Russian
Federation has violated international law by wrongfully retaining the
collection. The Russian Federation has until the end of February to
respond to the complaint, after refusing to reply to numerous requests
made by both the Jewish organization and the United States.
"At stake here are not just some books," said Rabbi Chaim Cunin,
public relations director for West Coast Chabad and the driving force
behind the campaign. "These books represent the soul and fight of the
Jewish people for so many years. It might mean nothing to the Russians
right now, but it means everything to Chabad and the entire Jewish
community."
The collection consists of 12,000 books and 30,000 manuscripts that
date back to the origins of the Chabad movement that began 250 years
ago and swept through Russia. Soon afterward, its philosophy of
accepting Judaism through wisdom, comprehension and knowledge spread to
surrounding countries, and today Chabad is the largest organization
within the Jewish faith.
The archive was left behind in 1915, when Rabbi Sholom Dovber
Schneerson, the fifth of the Chabad rabbis, escaped just prior to
Germany's World War I invasion. Schneerson left the collection in
Moscow for safekeeping, but the Bolshevik Revolution prevented his
return to recover the texts. In 1924, the former Soviet Union placed
the archive in the state library.
The complaint was followed by a Jan. 19 statement by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She
announced that the State Department will press the Russian Federation
to return the texts to Chabad.
"We will very much push on those issues and issues of the Schneerson
documents," Rice said.
Her statement came after members of both houses of Congress urged
Russian President Vladmir V. Putin to return the texts to Chabad. Cunin
worked closely with Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) in taking the
organization's grievances to Capitol Hill.
Cunin's father, Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, director of West Coast
Chabad, was one of five rabbis assigned by the late Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, the seventh and latest of the Chabad rabbis, to
obtain and return the library to New York. Since then, Cunin and his
two sons have championed the cause to retrieve the texts.
According to the complaint filed by Chabad's attorneys, Marshall
Grossman, Seth Gerber and Jonathan Stern of Alschuler Grossman Stein &
Kahan, the political efforts to retrieve the library have been going on
for many years. In 1992, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al
Gore, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and then-Sen. Robert Dole
(R-Kan.) pressured the Russian Federation to return the contents of the
library. At that time, all 100 members of the Senate wrote to
then-President Boris Yeltsin, urging the Russian leader to fulfill his
promise to return the texts.
In Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev and the Russian Supreme Court ruled that
the documents be returned to Chabad, but the orders were ignored by the
Russian library. At the end of that year, the United States certified
that the Russian library was in violation of the Freedom Support Act by
withholding documents from individuals in the United States. The act
justified withholding funding from the Russian library until the texts
were returned to Chabad.
Following the funding cut, both Yeltsin and Putin promised Chabad that
the texts would be returned. Since then, there has been no significant
action.
The case resurfaced when the Chabad organization recently learned about
a second part of the collection captured from the Nazis by the Soviet
army and stored at the Russian State Military Archive after World War
II, Gerber said. Upon this discovery, Chabad renewed its efforts to
obtain the texts at both the Russian library - the texts that were
originally sought - and the newly discovered collection at the
military archive.
Though Chabad's headquarters are in Brooklyn, the organization filed
suit in California, making the legal procedure more convenient for
Cunin, a Southern California resident, and the Russian Federation,
which has a significant number of legal contacts in the area, according
to Stern. If and when the texts are returned, however, they will be
housed at the Chabad Library in New York.
"These are crucial and critical pieces authored by the founders of
the movement who have since died," Stern said. "It is the
equivalent to having the original documents written by the founders of
America stored in another country without having access to them."
The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., said it is not dealing with
the issue, but made reference to its San Francisco consulate, which did
not return calls on the case.
"This issue can be looked at as a litmus test to Russia," Cunin
said. "The Jewish community has sustained so many atrocities under
communist regime, and now we are really putting the pressure on them to
prove whether or not they believe in religious and cultural freedom."
Jewish Journal, CA
New York Post
02/25/05
On Bush's checklist of topics to bring up in his meeting with Putin:
political freedom, press freedom - and Jewish book freedom.
All 100 members of the Senate signed a letter urging the Russian
government to return sacred books to the Chabad-Lubavitch sect based in
Brooklyn.
The Russian government returned some of the books - seized during a
Soviet crackdown on religion more than 80 years ago - to the group in
December 2002. But the balance is in the Russian State Library.
Rabbi Chaim Cunin, who has been helping fight to get release of the
books, said the White House told him last Friday that Bush would
personally deliver the senators' letter to Putin. Cunin and his
brother, also a rabbi, quickly arranged flights to Bratislava,
Slovakia, and got a quick moment with Bush on a rope line. AP
NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc.
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After exhausting other avenues, rabbis and attorneys go to court in
L.A. seeking all of a Lubavitch collection compiled over 200 years.
By Veronica Torrejón
Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
March 12, 2005
While it remains out of reach in Russia, a centuries-old collection of
Jewish religious books and letters evokes an image of a distant light
for Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin.
"No one can hold them in their arms, no one can glean the spark of the
light and the warmth that are contained within the aging pages of these
books," said Cunin, West Coast director of Chabad, the Lubavitch
organization of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews that recently sued the
Russian Federation in federal court in Los Angeles to obtain the
12,000-volume collection.
The light, he adds, is also a guide for a second generation of rabbis
and attorneys working to force Russian officials to have the books and
papers moved to a Lubavitch library in New York where they would be
available to scholars.
"The torch has been passed," Cunin said.
The works, assembled over more than two centuries by the movement
originating in the Belarussian town of Lubavitch, have been at the
center of a diplomatic tussle since 1990.
Russian officials have given selected volumes over the years to
Lubavitch leaders. But despite pledges of support for Chabad from
former Russian leaders Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev and three
U.S. presidents, the agencies in control of the books have shown no
signs of handing over the entire collection, which they say is the
property of Russia and should not be transferred overseas.
After spearheading the effort for years, Cunin has since ceded some
responsibility for garnering political support in Washington to his
sons Chaim Cunin, 30, and Yosef Cunin, 32, both also rabbis.
"It's a message to the Russians that we have enough belief in the
younger generation," said the elder Cunin. "We will never, never stop
until we get back the last book, the last manuscript, the last
picture."
On Chabad's legal front is Marshall Grossman, 65, whose work for the
organization over the years has been mostly pro bono. Now, aided by a
second generation of attorneys in the Santa Monica firm of Alschuler
Grossman Stein & Kahan, Grossman hopes the Los Angeles lawsuit will
force a response from Russia. The suit, filed in November, names the
Russian Federation and the Russian Ministry of Culture, state library
and military archive as plaintiffs.
Though the Russian Supreme Court ordered the documents returned in
1991, the order was never obeyed, according to the Chabad court
filings.
"We are operating here on both a political and legal field," said
Grossman, a friend of Cunin. The Los Angeles case was filed "with great
reservation because we had hoped to accomplish this through the Russian
legal system."
The Russian Ministry of Culture plans to formally respond at the end of
the month, said James Broderick Jr. of Squire Sanders & Dempsey, the
American firm recently retained to represent the ministry.
"We are just coming into this case," said attorney Sarah Carey in
Washington, who is working with Broderick on the matter. "We've gotten
bits and pieces, but the pieces that we've gotten aren't complete. The
Russian position, stated simply, is that Russia owns the collection and
that it should remain in Russia."
Broderick and Carey argue that sovereign immunity shields the Russian
Ministry of Culture from a suit filed in U.S. court, a position that
Chabad disputes.
"We can say that the Russian government is concerned about the idea of
this kind of an issue being the subject of litigation in the United
States," Broderick said. "Suppose a suit was filed in Russia to recover
manuscripts being held in the Library of Congress?"
Repeated attempts this week to obtain comment from the Russian Embassy
in Washington were unsuccessful.
The saga of the documents dates to the early 20th century. According to
the lawsuit, the chief Lubavitcher rabbi at the time sent a collection
of books and manuscripts to Moscow during World War I for safekeeping.
In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, it was reportedly taken by
Soviet officials and placed in the Russian State Library.
The second part of the collection, handwritten letters and records, was
maintained by the next rabbi to head the Lubavitcher movement until he
was forced to flee Poland during World War II, leaving the collection
behind. The Soviet army seized parts of it after the war and placed the
documents in storage at the Russian Military Archive, where they
remain, the Lubavitchers say.
For the two younger attorneys now on the case for Chabad, Jonathan
Stern, 28, and Seth Gerber, 32, the cause is part of a larger tapestry
of political and Jewish activism passed down by their families.
Leading up to his bar mitzvah 15 years ago, Stern engaged in a
letter-writing campaign on behalf of a Russian teenager who was
attempting to immigrate to Israel. Gerber can recall handing out
fliers, as early as age 5, during demonstrations organized by his
parents in support of Jewish emigration from Russia.
For Stern, buried somewhere in the trove of books is knowledge "about
living a life that strives toward ethical and moral perfection." Gerber
is similarly intrigued by the books' content.
Grossman, whose grandparents emigrated from Russia, made his first trip
to the Soviet Union in 1961 during the height of the Cold War. The trip
marked a turning point in his life.
In Moscow, he met an engineer named Jacob who spoke of being persecuted
as a Jew and of it being dangerous for him to be seen with Westerners.
When he returned home, Grossman learned that an engineer named Jacob
had been executed.
"I don't know if it was the same man," he said. "But I've been haunted
by it to this day."
In 1990, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the seventh leader in the
Chabad movement's history, charged the elder Cunin and a delegation of
four others with the responsibility of retrieving the collection.
Later, the younger Cunins and their four other brothers, ranging in age
from 14 to 22, were sent from Los Angeles to Chabad headquarters in New
York. There, Schneersohn tapped them to take their cause to Washington
to lobby for support from Congress.
"Thus began this journey of ours," Chaim Cunin said. "We know that our
job in life is to pursue the path of justice. Even though we may have
not yet been successful, we know that the journey is just as
important."
He and Yosef, who have now spent almost half their lives in pursuit of
the collection, are married with seven children between them. When they
are not lobbying in Washington, they help their father run the Chabad's
West Coast network of synagogues, social service centers and schools.
Both generations of Cunins and the attorneys helping them believe that
the collection will be relinquished in their lifetimes.
"I am fulfilling the most urgent mission the rebbe entrusted [to] me,
and now my children are doing the same," the elder Cunin said. "How are
they going to get rid of me? I've got 13 kids, and their kids will be
no less determined."
3/28/2005 6:31:00 PM
To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor
Contact: Sean Woo of the Helsinki Commission, 202-225-1901
News Advisory:
The Chairman of the United States Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), Senator Sam Brownback
(R-KS), announced that the Commission will hold the following hearing
on the efforts of the Chabad community and the U.S. Government to
recover the "Schneerson Collection" of sacred and irreplaceable Jewish
books and manuscripts from the Russian Government:
WHAT: Helsinki Commission hearing: "The Schneerson Collection and
Historical Justice"
WHEN: Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: 216 Hart Senate Office Building
Witnesses:
-- Amb. Edward B. O'Donnell, Jr, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues,
Department of State
-- Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, director of Chabad-Lubavitch on the West
Coast, senior executive member of Agudas Chasidei Chabad-Lubavitch and
the delegation appointed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson to secure the return of the Schneerson Collection.
-- Marshall B. Grossman Esq., Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP,
attorneys for Agudas Chasidei Chabad-Lubavitch in the effort to recover
the Schneerson Collection.
-- Jon Voight, Academy Award-winning actor and advocate for human
rights issues.
-- Leon Fuerth, Research Professor of International Affairs at The
George Washington University and former national security advisor to
Vice President Albert Gore.
-- Rabbi Joseph Wineberg, noted author on Judaism, senior member of
Chabad-Lubavitch who survived the bombing of Warsaw with Rabbi
Schneerson and preserved parts of the Schneerson Collection.
-- Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, former assistant chief-of-staff to the
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson, chairman of the
international Chabad-Lubavitch social services and educational
organizations, senior executive member and secretary and Agudas
Chasidei Chabad-Lubavitch.
The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States or a
representative has been invited to testify.
A transcript of the hearing will be available on the Helsinki
Commission's web site at http://www.csce.gov within 24 hours of the
hearing.
The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency,
by law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of
the Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of
nine Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the
Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.
© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Originally published on April 7, 2005
WASHINGTON - A group of New York rabbis and human rights advocates
urged the government yesterday to step up efforts to help reclaim a
collection of religious texts held for decades by the Russian
government.
At a congressional hearing, rabbis affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch
movement - a New York-based Orthodox Jewish group - said Russia's
refusal to return the works despite years of negotiations violates
international law and deprives them of part of their heritage.
"To us, their value is not about art and perhaps not even sanctity, but
family," said Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of Chabad's social
services and educational organizations. "These books are like human
beings. They give life to life."
Most of the texts were seized more than 80 years ago from Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchak Schneerson as part of a Soviet crackdown on religion after the
Russian Revolution. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian
government took ownership.
Russian officials have been reluctant to return the collection, fearing
it would lead to claims by others whose assets were confiscated by the
Soviet state and ended up in state-run cultural institutions.
"It is our position that the collection belongs to Russia," the Russian
Embassy in Washington said in a statement. "It is part of the national
cultural heritage of Russians and of Jewish communities around the
world."
The books are known as the "Schneerson collection," named for the
prominent Lubavitcher family that included Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, a
revered community leader in New York City who died a decade ago.
Originally published on April 7, 2005
Lubavitcher
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 07:08 AM
To: DOS...@LISTS.STATE.GOV
Subject: The Schneerson Collection and Historical Justice
The Schneerson Collection and Historical Justice
Ambassador Edward B. O'Donnell, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues
Testimony Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, DC
April 6, 2005
Chairman Brownback, Co-Chairman Smith, CSCE Commissioners, thank you
for this
opportunity to discuss with the Commission the case of the Schneerson
Collection. This complex issue has been on our diplomatic agenda with
Russia
for many years. The fate of the Schneerson Collection resonates as an
issue of
basic fairness for members of Congress, and for Americans of various
faiths.
My testimony will address past United States Government efforts in
support of a
resolution of this issue, the current United States Government
position, and
the current Russian position as Russian officials have conveyed it to
us.
Past Efforts of the United States
The U.S. Government has long been involved in the effort to
facilitate
a
mutually agreeable arrangement between the Russian Government and
Agudas
Chasidei Chabad ("Chabad") concerning the possession of and access to
the
Schneerson Collection, which consists of two parts. One part is the
Schneerson
Library, a collection of religious texts maintained by the first five
Lubavitcher Rebbes dating to 1772. The Government of the USSR took
possession
of the library after the 1917 revolution and, since 1924, has housed
it in the
Russian State Library. The Schneerson Library has been the focus of
our
attention since the early 1990s.
The second part of the Collection is an archive of the teachings of
the
successive Lubavitcher Rebbes. We understand that the Lubavitch
organization
learned about this material in early 2003 and that it is comprised of
documents
that the then Rebbe took from Moscow to Rostov-on-the-Don in 1917 and
subsequently took to Riga and Warsaw. It is believed that the Nazis
seized the
archive when they captured Warsaw in 1939 and that the USSR took
custody of the
archive either in Germany or in Poland at the end of World War II and
shipped
it to Moscow. It is now stored in the Russian Military Archive
outside
Moscow.
When it learned about this second Archive, Chabad asked Ambassador
Vershbow for
advice on how to proceed. The Ambassador responded that after Chabad
submitted
a formal request for the Archive to the Russian Government, the
Embassy would
follow-up. Chabad has not yet advised the Embassy that it has
submitted a
formal request to the Russian Government. The Department has informed
Chabad of
the possibility of a government-to-government claim. The Embassy has
requested
permission to inspect the Archive.
So that we can distinguish between these two separate entities, I
will
use the
term "Library" for the items we have known about for more than two
decades, and
the term "Archive" for the recently discovered materials. The term
Collection
will be used to refer to the two entities together.
Since the early 1990s, the United States Government strongly
supported
efforts
by Chabad to obtain the Schneerson Library. Our efforts were at the
level of
presidential summits, as well as in cabinet, ambassadorial and
working
level
diplomatic discussions.
In 1992, Acting Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger denied the
Russian
State Library, formerly the Lenin State Library, assistance under the
FREEDOM
Support Act. He made this decision as a policy matter, based on the
Russian
State Library's continued possession of the Schneerson Library. In so
doing,
Acting Secretary Eagleburger noted that the U.S. Government was
committed to
seeing the Schneerson Library transferred to its rightful owners and
had raised
the issue with President Gorbachev and President Yeltsin.
In a 1993 Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Government
received a
political commitment from the Russians to transfer the Schneerson
Library to a
facility that was both readily accessible to the Chabad community as
well as
better suited for the protection and conservation of fragile and
valuable
documents.
The Government of Russia formally established the Center for Oriental
Literature in 1993 under the umbrella of the Russian State Library,
thus
creating a new home for the Collection. The original plan called for
the
transfer of the Schneerson Library to the Center for Oriental
Literature to
take place by March 1994. The building designated by the Russian
Government for
the new center, however, required far more extensive renovations than
were
foreseen originally. A lack of funding slowed construction. The
result
was a
decade of delay. The Center formally opened in 2003. Renovation of
the
building
is now nearing completion. The building includes separate space for
the storage
of the Schneerson library as well as space for Chabad adherents to
perform
religious ceremonies. We understand that the Russian State Library
expects to
complete the transfer of the Schneerson Library to the Center for
Oriental
Literature in May.
A second subject of the discussions was a library-to-library loan,
which was
arranged in 1994 between the Russian State Library and the Library of
Congress.
The loaned books are still in the United States. The terms of the
loan
have
been the cause of continuing disagreement.
In addition, Russia made a good-will gesture in 1993 when Russia
presented then
Vice President Gore with one book from the library. The Vice
President
immediately presented the book to the Lubavitch community.
In 2002, the Russian State Library permanently gave a number of
volumes from
the Schneerson Library to the Lubavitch synagogue in Moscow, Marina
Roscha. The
Schneerson library had more than one copy of these volumes.
In summary, the discussions, based on the 1993 MOU, centered on two
separate
issues access to and the preservation of the collection, and a
permanent
resolution of the issue. The result of years of often intense effort
has been a
minimum of progress on these issues.
Position of the United States Government
This Administration remains committed to working with the Russian
Government
and the Lubavitch community to resolve this issue. Each of our
ambassadors to
Russia over the past 15 years has been personally involved in this
effort. Our
Embassy in Moscow monitors events concerning the Schneerson
Collection
closely
and maintains contact with all of the parties involved.
In 2003, Ambassador Vershbow suggested to both the Russian Minister
of
Culture
and to Chabad that the two parties meet with him at the Embassy for a
"roundtable" discussion of the Schneerson Library issue. The Embassy
continues
to offer this proposal.
I also want to acknowledge the helpful and important interventions by
Members
of Congress on this issue, the most recent being the letter to
President Putin
signed by all 100 members of the Senate. Senior White House officials
conveyed
the letter to President Putin's delegation at the February 24
Bratislava
Summit.
Russian Government's Position
Russian officials have frequently referred to the Schneerson Library
as a
national treasure, a part of Russia's cultural heritage. They cite
various laws
and decrees as providing the basis for Russia to retain the
Schneerson
Library,
which they point out was created in Russia and has always been in
Russia.
Russian officials frequently maintain that divestiture of the
Schneerson
Library would violate Russian law, and would also establish a legal
precedent
for the return of other cultural property nationalized in the wake of
the
Russian revolution.
The Russians made a political commitment to negotiate a resolution of
the final
status of the Schneerson Library, but now maintain that they are
prepared only
to discuss the use of the library and not its transfer. Russian
officials
maintain that the establishment of the Center for Oriental Literature
and the
refurbishment of a building to house the Center show Russia's
intention to
provide the Schneerson Library with a modern and appropriate
facility.
Additionally, Russian officials maintain that Chabad has not
fulfilled
responsibilities it assumed for appraising the value of the library
and
insuring it, and for funding conservation and safekeeping measures
undertaken
by the Russians.
Conclusion
In closing, I would note that this hearing will bring the Schneerson
Library
and Archive to public attention, which we welcome. We hope that the
hearing
will help both parties to realize the importance of reaching a
mutually
acceptable solution. For Chabad, the Collection has a strong and
understandable
religious value. Chabad members want to be able to benefit from the
teachings
of their Rebbes. According to Chabad leaders, having limited,
periodic
access
to the Collection does not serve that purpose. For Russia, the
Collection bears
witness to the activities of a vibrant Jewish group for nearly two
and
one-half
centuries.
It is now up to both parties to identify their respective interests
and to seek
an arrangement by which to further and protect those interests. If
these
hearings help to accomplish that objective, they will have done a
service for
us all.
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Lubavitcher
Source: Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
The Watchmen Herald
WASHINGTON - The Helsinki Commission heard of the struggle to reclaim a
piece of Jewish heritage Wednesday that has been held for nearly a
century by the Russian government.
Members and friends of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, one of the
largest Jewish organizations in the United States, testified about the
Schneerson collection, a compilation of rare religious books and
manuscripts owned by the movement's former leaders.
"The value of the Schneerson collection of sacred Jewish texts is not
financial but immeasurably spiritual," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.,
chairman of the Helsinki Commission. "They are a link between humanity
and divinity."
The collection consists of 12,000 volumes and an additional 25,000
documents assembled during the movement's 250-year history.
It was seized from them by the Soviet Union in two parts. The first
part, a collection of works by the first five leaders of the movement,
was taken near the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, and is currently
in the Russian State Library, said Ambassador Edward B. O'Donnell
Jr., special envoy for Holocaust issues at the State Department.
The second part, an archive of teaching from successive leaders, was
seized by Nazis in 1939 during World War II. It was later discovered to
have been captured by the Soviet Union and taken to the Russian State
Military Archive.
Members of the Schneerson family and others originated the movement in
the Russian town of Lubavitch. They faced discrimination and were
forced to flee after the Russian Revolution. Some went to Poland, and
others came to the United States.
The Russian government was invited to testify before the commission,
but opted to issue a statement that said the collection originated in
Russia and the Soviet Union and is a part of the nation's history.
"It is our position that the collection belongs to Russia," it said.
"It is a part of the national cultural heritage of Russians and Jewish
Communities around the world."
Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, director of Chabad-Lubavitch on the West
Coast, disagreed, citing Russia's treatment of the collection.
"The books are being kept under the worst condition that books and
manuscripts can be kept," he said. "The books in the Russian State
Library, they have never been catalogued. ... They are in a horrific
state of neglect."
To show support for the return of the collection, Sen. Norm Coleman,
R-Minn., wrote a letter and had it signed by all 100 senators.
President Bush delivered it to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in
February.
"I don't know of another issue where 100 members of the Senate, every
one, has signed the letter," said Brownback to wide applause from an
audience of at least 120 that included many members of the
Chabad-Lubavitch group and at least 16 Holocaust survivors.
This was not the first time the Russians have been asked to return the
collection. The Senate made a similar appeal in 1992 to then-president
Boris Yeltsin. Only eight volumes, one as a gift and seven as a loan to
the Library of Congress, have been released since then.
Actor Jon Voight, who has been working with Chabad-Lubavitch for
several years, told the commission the documents should be returned.
"Everyone asks, 'What is your connection to him and his cause?'"
Voight said of Cunin. "Since I am of Catholic faith, I understand the
basic values of life, including the Ten Commandments, and they say,
'Thou shalt not steal.'"
All the commission members who spoke endorsed giving the collection to
the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
"This administration will be pushing the Russian administration to do
whatever we can," said Brownback.
Reb Moshe
April 08, 2005
A Lubavitcher news service? I never knew such a thing existed. At any
rate, they report that Russia won't release the deceased Lubavitcher
Reb Menachem Schneerson's collection of Jewish books and manuscripts.
(Read about Reb Schneerson here and here.)
In a dramatic gesture in the Senate on Wednesday, Senator Sam
Brownback (R-Kan), Chairman of the Helsinki Commission presiding over
the hearings on the Schneerson Collection-a library of books and
manuscripts that Chabad-Lubavitch is seeking to have returned by
Russia--asked Holocaust survivors who had been victims of communist
persecution to please rise.
About eight of the two dozen Chabad-Lubavitch witnesses stood up to
an emotional outburst of applause. Later, Marshall Grossman, the
attorney representing Chabad in its legal case to recover the library,
said that the country that victimized these people cannot claim that
the Schneerson collection is their national treasure. "These people
are a national treasure. And they want their books returned to them."
But Russia is making this claim and has done so for the last 20
years, since Chabad confirmed evidence of some 12,000 volumes and
25,000 pages of manuscripts from the collections of early Chabad
Rebbes. This collection was seized by communist authorities in
oppressive anti-religious and anti-Jewish measures during the Soviet
regime. Today the books and manuscripts are kept respectively, in the
Russian State Library and the Russian Military Archives in Moscow.
...Human rights advocate and actor Jon Voight made an impassioned
appeal for the return of the books to Chabad-Lubavitch's main library
in New York. Identifying himself as a Catholic, he spoke of the
documents being the heritage and legacy of the Jewish people, which
derive from the 10 Commandments that teach, thou shalt not steal.
"These books and manuscripts don't talk to the Russians. They
are the voices of the ancestors of the Hebrew nation. For anyone else
to claim them as their own is a reminder of all the anti-Semitic
pollution through the years of genocide and destruction of human
life."
Why won't they release the collection? If only it were because they
saw them as something of value. But no - of course they don't give a
damn about Jewish manuscripts. This is the reason:
Fearing that return of this collection would set a precedent for
other claims of property confiscated during Soviet times, Russia has
refused to return the books.
I'll end with a lovely little steaming pile of Russian hypocrisy:
In a statement by the Russian Federation to the commission, it
claims the collection as "part of the national cultural heritage of
Russian and Jewish communities."
http://northernva.typepad.com/crossing_the_rubicon/a_dash_of_tabasco/index.html
Reb Moshe
THE SCHNEERSON COLLECTION AND HISTORICAL JUSTICE
APRIL 6, 2005
COMMISSIONERS:
U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS)
CHAIRMAN
U.S. SENATOR GORDON H. SMITH (R-OR)
U.S. SENATOR KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R-TX)
U.S. SENATOR SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA)
VACANT
U.S. SENATOR CHRISTOPHER J. DODD (D-CT)
U.S. SENATOR RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD (D-WI)
U.S. SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY)
VACANT
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH (R-NJ)
CO-CHAIRMAN
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FRANK R. WOLF (R-VA)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPH R. PITTS (R-PA)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT B. ADERHOLT (R-AL)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE PENCE (R-IN)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE BENJAMIN L. CARDIN (D-MD)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER (D-NY)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ALCEE L. HASTINGS (D-FL)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE MCINTYRE (D-NC)
WITNESSES/PANELISTS:
U.S. SENATOR NORM COLEMAN (R-MN)
AMB. EDWARD B. O'DONNELL, JR
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOLOCAUST ISSUES
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
RABBI BORUCH SHLOMO CUNIN
DIRECTOR
CHABAD-LUBAVITCH ON THE WEST COAST
SENIOR EXECUTIVE MEMBER OF AGUDAS
CHASIDEI CHABAD-LUBAVITCH
AND THE DELEGATION APPOINTED BY THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE
RABBI MENACHEM MENDEL SCHNEERSON
MARSHALL B. GROSSMAN ESQ.
ALSCHULER GROSSMAN STEIN & KAHAN LLP
ATTORNEYS FOR AGUDAS CHASIDEI CHABAD-LUBAVITCH
JON VOIGHT
ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTOR
ADVOCATE
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
LEON FUERTH
RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
VICE PRESIDENT ALBERT GORE
RABBI JOSEPH WINEBERG
NOTED AUTHOR ON JUDAISM
SENIOR MEMBER
CHABAD-LUBAVITCH
RABBI YEHUDA KRINSKY
FORMER ASSISTANT CHIEF-OF-STAFF
TO THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE
REBBE MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON
CHAIRMAN
INTERNATIONAL CHABAD-LUBAVITCH SOCIAL SERVICES
AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
SENIOR EXECUTIVE MEMBER AND SECRETARY
AGUDAS CHASIDEI CHABAD-LUBAVITCH.
RABBI ISAAC KOGAN
The hearing was held at 2:30 p.m. in Room 216 Hart
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., Sam Brownback, Co-chairman,
Helsinki
Commission, moderating.
[*]
BROWNBACK: Call the hearing to order.
I thank you all for joining us today. We just got a vote posted
in the Senate, and I understand here's a 3:15 vote, I believe, in the
House.
The way we're going to operate this is I'm going to hold my
opening statement for a little bit later on. I will get it in here
during the hearing.
Senator Coleman has a limited schedule; can't be with us for very
long. I'm going to go to him for his opening statement. And then I'm
going to turn it over to Congressman Smith to run the meeting in my
absence until I can get back from the vote. Then I'll continue, and
he'll run over to his vote after that.
I apologize for this musical chairs, literally, type of operation
in a very important and key hearing. But we've just got a series of
votes that are taking place, and we want to get this meeting going.
We've got some excellent testimony on a topic that I hope to get a lot
of focus on and interest in moving this on forward.
So with that, I want to turn first to my colleague from the
Senate, Senator Coleman, for a brief statement that he would have on
this hearing and this topic.
COLEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I do want to thank Chairman Brownback for holding this very
important hearing and for inviting me to share a few words. This is
an important issue, and we need to shine a light on it. And that's
what's being done today.
Persecution's taught the Jewish people a lot about education. As
people that have often been dispossessed, we know that the only true
wealth is what you carry with you in your heart and between your ears.
For the Jewish people, studying our sacred books is more than an
academic exercise; it is an essential part of Jewish identity.
The time has come for Russia to return these books to their
rightful owners; it is simple as that. The saga has been going on for
90 years. Commitments have been made and have been reneged. Courts
have ruled and these rulings have been ignored.
I am here as someone who has marched for Soviet Jewry in my
youth. Now, there is no doubt that Russia has made some important
progress in those days. But anti-Semitism is still a problem in
Russia. And Russia's failure to return these books, the Schneerson
Agudas Chabad collection to return these books to the Chabad community
to study and use in preservation is simply unacceptable.
I've been working on this issue for some time now, and I can tell
you that few issues have generated the high level of unqualified
bipartisan support as this noble effort has. The Senate leadership
has been unequivocal in their support. Secretary Rice, during her
confirmation hearing, committed to me that she would raise this issue
with her Russian counterparts.
In my letter to President Putin, which gathered the signatures of
all 99 of my Senate colleagues, 100 United States senators, was given
to President Bush for his meeting with President Putin in Bratislava
earlier this year. It is an issue that is getting a lot of well-
deserved attention.
We would not be here today without the tireless efforts of so
many in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. My good friend, Rabbi Fellah
(ph) from St. Paul, I know is here today, the indomitable Rabbi Cunin,
whose spirit and energy is so moving. Others have joined this fight.
I was pleased to meet with Jon Voight, the great actor and great
humanitarian who is here with us today. And I am thrilled that
Chairman Brownback is using the forum of the Helsinki Commission to
raise what I believe is a fundamental question of religious freedom
and the rule of law.
One of my favorite quotes is from former Prime Minister David
Ben-Gurion, Israeli prime minister, who once said, "Anybody who
doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist." That's why we're here
today. After decades of frustration, we need a breakthrough. Let's
make this miracle happen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
C. SMITH: Thank you very much, Senator. And I do want to thank
you and Chairman Brownback for convening this hearing.
This week, as we mourn the departure of a devout man of the
Christian faith who was a tenacious fighter against anti-Semitism,
Pope John Paul II, we are reminded of the great men of the Jewish
faith who struggled at the risk of their lives and fortunes to
preserve a priceless library of Hasidic writings while the chaos and
brutality of fascism and communism raged all around them.
As co-chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in
Europe, I am proud that this institution is presenting the story of
the Schneerson Collection today.
We are honored to have a number of distinguished guests in this
room who suffered greatly at the hands of the Soviet government due to
their association with Rabbi Schneerson. Their bravery and
perseverance, as has been capsulated in their written statement for
the record, is a testament to the power of faith.
The return of the collection is an issue that the Congress and
the U.S. Helsinki Commission have followed closely since the early
1990s. We had hoped that with goodwill, patience and observance of
the rule of law the disposition of the collection would be resolved by
now.
I understand that the Russian government believes it has a legal
case for keeping the books in Russia. However, Chabad has presented
voluminous and impressive information to support its position. And I
am unable to understand why the supreme arbitration court decision in
favor of Chabad was not carried out.
We are informed that the collection is being transferred to a
separate facility in Moscow where the physical conditions are better
than the main state library. This would seem to represent progress,
but as someone once said, "Nothing is resolved unless it is resolved
justly." I hope this hearing will help to point to a just resolution
of this.
I would like to yield to my good friend and colleague, the
ranking member on the Helsinki Commission, Mr. Cardin, for any opening
comments he might have.
CARDIN: Let me thank Chairman Smith for his leadership on this
issue and so many issues involving the human dimension of the Helsinki
Commission work. And I want to thank Senator Brownback for conducting
this very, very important hearing.
I'm going to put my entire statement in the record; I want to
hear from our witnesses. But let me just make one point, if I might.
The Helsinki obligations are very important obligations signed by
55 states. They are rather general in nature as to what we commit to
do and have a legitimate right to question the actions of other
countries as to whether they're living up to their Helsinki Commission
commitments.
But we judge that by specific actions. It's the specific action
that speaks to whether a country is adhering to the principles of
Helsinki.
Russia is not today by its failure to return this very important
collection. They should do it. They should do it now. And I think
this commission's hearing underscores the priority of our commission
in this undertaking.
I thank you all who are here today for being here to join us in
this hearing.
The Schneerson Collection represents the cultural history of a
community that was destroyed during World War II. And its rightful
owner is entitled to this collection. And I believe that today's
hearing will give us additional information so that we can continue to
make this point.
We will not be satisfied until justice is done. That is what
we're entitled under the Helsinki process. And this hearing is, I
think, an important part of us carrying out that responsibility.
Thank you.
C. SMITH: Thank you very much, Mr. Cardin.
The chair recognizes the president of the Parliamentary Assembly,
Alcee Hastings, the gentleman from Florida.
HASTINGS: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I shall not
take a long time.
I echo yours and my colleague, Mr. Cardin's, sentiments as well
as those of Senator Coleman. I thank you and Senator Brownback for
calling this very important hearing.
I'm delighted that our first witness is all of our good friend
who has labored actively in response to many requests regarding our
rightful property owned by all Jews, not only here, but throughout the
world.
Ambassador O'Donnell and I had the good fortune of being at lunch
together yesterday at the Anti-Defamation League. And many of the
same kinds of issues were discussed.
>From the history of war reparations to the recent controversy
regarding the Hungarian gold train, we, especially those of us here in
Congress, are keenly aware of the sad fact that in addition to lost
lives, Europe's Jewish communities lost irreplaceable and invaluable
artifacts during the war years. When we discover that such items have
been found intact, it is only natural and just that we will want to
ensure their safe and complete return.
The hard work that has been put forward by the Chabad community
and the Lubavitch is deserving of some resolution. It is our hope
that this hearing will expedite the return of these critically
important documents in the name of the Schneerson Collection and
historical justice.
With that, Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I ask unanimous
consent that my entire statement be entered into the record.
C. SMITH: Without objection, your statement will be made a part
of the record. And all members who would like to submit record
statements will be so done.
Let me just now introduce our first very distinguished witness, a
friend -- a good friend. Let me amend that: a great friend of this
commission who has been a strong and articulate voice on behalf of the
rightful cause of those who are seeking property restitution and other
important aspects of restitution, much of it attributable to World War
II. And that is Ambassador Ed O'Donnell.
I would just say to the assembled audience, when we embarked on
the Berlin conference on anti-Semitism last year as well as the Vienna
conference before that, Ambassador O'Donnell was a great friend and a
very informed and articulate person who provided us very valuable
information.
And so, Ambassador O'Donnell, thank you for the tremendous work
you're doing, and we look forward to your statement today.
O'DONNELL: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
that introduction. I appreciate that.
And thank you, CSCE commissioners, Mr. Cardin.
Congressman Hastings, thank you for your comments as well.
And it's a pleasure to be here. And thank you for the invitation
to discuss with the commission the Schneerson Collection. And I will
make a brief summary of remarks. And I would appreciate my written
statement be entered into the record.
C. SMITH: Without objection, it will be put in the record.
O'DONNELL: Thank you.
This complex issue has been on our diplomatic agenda with Russia
for many years. The fate of the Schneerson Collection resonates as an
issue of basic fairness for members of Congress and for Americans of
all religions and faiths. My testimony will address past U.S.
government efforts in support of a resolution of this issue: also the
current U.S. government position and the current Russian position as
Russian officials have conveyed it to us.
The Schneerson Collection consists of two parts, the Schneerson
Library, a collection of religious texts, and an archive that Chabad
discovered at the Russian military archive in 2003. So that we can
distinguish between the two separate entities, I'll use the term
"library" for the items we have known about for almost two decades and
the term "archive" for the more recently discovered materials. The
term "collection" will be what I'll use for the two entities together.
Since the early 1990s, the United States government has strongly
supported the efforts by Chabad to obtain the Schneerson Library. Our
efforts have been at the level of presidential summits as well as in
cabinet, ambassadorial and working-level diplomatic discussions.
In 1992, Acting Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger denied
the Russian State Library, formerly the Lenin State Library,
assistance under the Freedom Support Act. He made this decision as a
policy matter based on the Russian State Library's continued
possession of the Schneerson Library.
In 1993, the United States received a political commitment from
the Russians, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, to
transfer the Schneerson Library to a facility that was both readily
accessible to the Chabad community as well as better suited for the
protection and conservation of fragile and valuable documents. The
government of Russia formerly established the Center for Oriental
Literature in 1993 under the umbrella of the Russian State Library,
thus creating a new home for the collection.
The original plan called for the transfer of the Schneerson
Library to the Center for Oriental Literature to take place by March
1994. The building designated by the Russian government for the new
center, however, required far more extensive renovations than foreseen
originally.
Unfortunately the center was only opened in 2003. We understand
that the Russian State Library expects to complete the transfer of the
Schneerson Library to the Center for Oriental Literature in May of
this year.
A second subject of the discussions was a library-to-library
loan, which was arranged in 1994 between the Russian State Library and
the Library of Congress, this under the MOU. The loaned books are
still in the United States, and the terms of the loan have been the
cause of continuing disagreement between the two parties.
In 2002, the Russian State Library permanently gave a number of
volumes from the Schneerson Library to the Marina Roscha Lubavitch
synagogue in Moscow. The Schneerson Library had more than one copy of
these volumes, and I understand this is approximately 39 books.
This administration remains firmly committed to working with the
Russian government and the Lubavitch community to resolve this issue.
Each of our ambassadors to Russia over the past 15 years have been
personally involved in this effort. Our embassy in Moscow monitors
events concerning the Schneerson Collection closely and maintains
contact with all the parties involved.
In 2003, Ambassador Vershbow suggested to both the Russian
minister of culture and to Chabad that the two parties meet with him
at the embassy for a roundtable discussion of the Schneerson Library
issue. And the ambassador and the embassy continue to offer this
proposal as a way forward.
I also want to acknowledge the helpful and important
interventions by members of Congress on this issue, the most recent
being the letter to President Putin signed by all 100 members of the
U.S. Senate. Senior White House officials conveyed this letter to
President Putin's delegation at the February 24th Bratislava summit.
Russian officials have frequently referred to the Schneerson
Library as a national treasure, a part of Russia's cultural heritage.
They cite various laws and decrees as providing the basis for Russia
to retain the Schneerson Library, which they point out was created in
Russia and has always been in Russia.
Russian officials maintain that the divestiture of the Schneerson
Library would violate Russian law and would also establish a legal
precedent for the return of other cultural property nationalized in
the wake of the Russian Revolution.
Despite a political commitment to negotiate a resolution on the
final status of the Schneerson Library, the Russians now maintain that
they are prepared only to discuss the use of the library and not its
transfer.
In closing, I would note that this hearing brings the Schneerson
Library and archive to public attention, which we very much welcome.
We hope that this hearing will help both parties to realize the
importance of reaching a mutually acceptable solution.
For Chabad, the collection has strong and understandable
religious value. Chabad members want to be able to benefit from the
teachings of their rebbes. According to Chabad leaders, having
limited, periodic access to the collection does not serve that
purpose.
For Russia, the collection bears witness to the activities of a
vibrant Jewish group for nearly two and one-half centuries.
Mr. Chairman, it is now up to both parties to identify their
respective interests and to seek an arrangement by which to further
and protect those interests. If these hearings help to accomplish
that objective, they will have done a service to us all.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to your comments and
questions.
C. SMITH: Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. And thank you
for your work on this.
And I would just note that all of us were very encouraged when
the president did raise this in Bratislava as well as Secretary Rice
when she was undergoing her confirmation, when she made it clear that
this would remain a very important part of our dialogue with the
Russians.
My understanding is that President Bush will be meeting with
President Putin on May 9th to celebrate the victory over the Nazis. I
wonder if it will be raised there as well. And hopefully with the
added backdrop that to me and to my colleagues on the House side and,
of course, for the senators -- and you pointed out 100 senators have
signed that letter -- it is dismaying beyond words why they are
dragging their feet and not only dragging their feet, moving in the
opposite direction and obstructing what seems to be an extremely
unfair position.
There are other issues between the Russians and ourselves,
including Chechnya and other issues, that are much more vexing and are
not as deliverable, it would seem to me, as this one. So I would hope
that the Russians would realize how dismaying this truly is that they
are continuing down this misguided path.
I would also note for the record we did invite the Russians to be
here to present testimony to the commission. We frequently do that.
We have ambassadors and Ben Cardin and I and Alcee. We go to other
capitals and give representation on behalf of our nation. So there is
no real precedent involved here. It is the normal course of what the
Commission on Security and Cooperation does. And they have decided to
opt out.
They do have submitted some materials that we will include in the
record, but it would, I think, have been very helpful had they been
here to see just how strongly all of us feel in a bipartisan way and
in a bicameral way and with the executive branch as well.
So any comments you might have, especially with regards to the
May 9th meeting with Putin.
O'DONNELL: OK. If I may, Secretary Rice, in response to Senator
Coleman, since that time when she said we would continue to push on
this issue of the Schneerson Collection, we certainly have done that.
Ambassador Vershbow and his staff have been in contact with the
Russian State Library, the Ministry of Culture, the government
officials at various levels, here in Washington, the State Department,
the White House with the Russian embassy here.
Also I would say that we continue to use every appropriate
opportunity to raise this issue and will continue to do so. And, of
course, you mentioned the summit in Bratislava at the end of February
when we delivered the letters to President Putin's delegation.
Secretary Rice will be making a trip to Moscow the 19th and 20th
of April. And she intends to raise this issue in this her first visit
to Moscow since becoming secretary of state. And that's what we see
as the next step.
There will be other actions on our part and concrete measures to
keep pushing this issue and that it remains a part of our agenda.
I don't have the specific information about the president's
meeting in May, but our focus for the next step certainly is Secretary
Rice and her raising it during her visit to Moscow later this month.
C. SMITH: I appreciate that.
Mr. Cardin?
CARDIN: Well, let me first thank Ambassador O'Donnell for his
service to our country and for your testimony here today. It's been a
pleasure to work with you on these issues.
And I think your testimony is very clear, that it is the position
of our country that Russia should return the balance of the Schneerson
Collection as soon as possible. We said that in December of 1997 when
some volumes were returned, so we clearly have a position on this.
And I understand the diplomacy, understand how in dealing with
Russia and the former Soviet Union for many years that they somehow
think that these issues are going to go away and that we won't be
interested in the future. Well, they have an awakening here. We are
going to stay involved in this issue until we succeed in reaching a
just solution, the return of the collection. And I think that is very
clear by our hearing here today.
So what I would ask, Mr. Ambassador, is this: that I am very
much encouraged by the State Department raising this issue at the
highest levels with our president and secretary of state who will
raise these issues at meetings of their counterparts. I would like to
have a clear understanding as to what the current status of the number
of volumes, et cetera.
And I don't know whether we have that or not, but I think it
would be helpful for us if we could know what volumes -- percentage
still remain under Russian control and what has been released and
whether we think that's an accurate number, whether we have a good
sense as to the expectation of how much of the collection still
remains that we're interested in getting returned. I think that would
be helpful for us to have those numbers.
And then lastly, I would ask that you coordinate, as you always
do, the work of the State Department, the work of the administration
with the work of the commission -- because I think we have a common
strategy -- so that we can be the most effective. We'll have meetings
with our counterparts in the Parliamentary Assembly coming up as early
as next week in Copenhagen, and we'll have additional meetings here in
Washington in the summer.
So it'd be helpful if we could just stay completely up to date as
to the status of the responses that you're getting from the Russian
Federation so that we reinforce what the secretary is doing, what the
president is doing with our counterparts in the Russian Duma.
Thank you.
O'DONNELL: Thank you, Congressman.
In terms of the numbers, the results are disappointing. The
library itself consists of 12,000 volumes, 381 manuscripts. The
archive is an estimated 25,000 hand-written pages. So there are two
different elements to the Schneerson Collection both that have a
different history, the library having been taken by the Soviet
government after the revolution, the archives as a part of World War
II and the Holocaust.
And to date, one volume was given to Vice President Gore in 1993.
Seven volumes were transferred in the inter-library loan program
between the Russian State Library and the Library of Congress under
the MOU. And then approximately 39 volumes were transferred on a
permanent loan basis to the Marina Roscha synagogue in Moscow.
We understand from the Russian embassy that they will also have
another permanent exhibit of some type. But again, we haven't seen
this. And that would be in the Jewish center in Moscow. But that
remains to be seen.
But certainly, the results are disappointing. And our basis of
this is the MOU and the political commitment by the Russian government
to both safeguard the collection and make sure it's secure and
catalogued and also to continue the dialogue on the eventual
disposition of the Schneerson Collection. And that's what we will
continue to push on. And that second part is equally important.
CARDIN: So we are making progress then in the documentation but
not in the return, is that right?
O'DONNELL: Well, there has not been -- the last amount
delivered, I think, was in 2002, 2003. But that's on a permanent loan
basis. But again, it's very small.
And I think certainly in terms of our objective, it's to -- we
have several objectives: one, to safeguard the collection and make
sure that the Center for Oriental Literature, when it opens in May is,
one, an adequate facility -- our embassy has visited that, our
officials -- but also the important issue of access; that the Chabad
community can access the library, the Center for Oriental Literature
for religious purposes.
But also that second part of it of continuing the dialogue. And
that's where we've got to keep pushing the Russians, that that's not
the end of the story, just the adequate facilities, that that's an
interim step to safeguard it. But we very much are going to continue
to push on that issue of the disposition with the objective, of
course, of helping Chabad obtain the Schneerson Collection.
CARDIN: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.
BROWNBACK: Congressman Hastings?
HASTINGS: Thank you very much, Senator. I didn't see you come
back in on the rotation.
To our friends in the Lubavitcher and those that are assembled
here, as the chairman has said, we rotate out for votes. And we, Mr.
Smith and Mr. Cardin and I, have to go all the way over to the House
side. Senators have the good fortune of being able to step down the
hall. In short, we apologize to you for having to leave to go and
vote. And we'll try to get back as quickly as possible.
It's, kind of, hard, too, to apologize for working. I say that
all the time to constituents. But I'm sure that you all understand
that.
When you look at the history of this matter, I think, Ambassador
O'Donnell, first, thank you for the clarity and the brevity of your
remarks. And I know the depth of your sincere conviction, as well as
those in the State Department and the administration, is demonstrated
by the continuing efforts that have been put forward.
But when you look at the history of this matter, if you date back
all the way to World War I and the seizure that took place at that
time and then the follow-up seizure of the collection after World War
II, I think it important at least that some of us emphasize that these
papers, this historic collection, was seized and was not donated. And
I think that in and of itself is a distinction, although I have not
read the court opinions. And that's the thrust of my question in two
parts.
One: To what extent is the impact of the federal courts decision
with respect to Russia returning the documents? And if I'm not
mistaken, the Russian supreme court has already ruled favorably on
this matter. And then what effect does that have on the federal
court?
And then my final question is is there any specific timeline, not
the administration's -- but to the administration's knowledge that the
Jewish community is looking to secure the release of this collection?
It's never too late to right a historic wrong. And as my
colleagues have said, we intend to continue to raise this with our
interlocutors that our counterparts in the Russian Duma and the
Parliamentary Assembly. And you can be assured that we will. And we
hope, Ambassador, that we coordinate our efforts.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
BROWNBACK: I thank you, Congressman.
Mr. Ambassador, I apologize for not hearing your testimony and
for having to leave. I do want to ask a couple questions, and they
may be redundant, given that I wasn't able to be here. And I
apologize for that.
Ambassador, to the very point of the issue, the president will
soon be traveling to Russia, will soon be meeting with President
Putin. I think he really should aggressively put at the list of items
amongst the top items to address the return of the Schneerson
Collection.
It is something that the Russian president, the Russian
government has in their operation to be able to convey. They can
resolve this issue that's been left simmering for far too long.
As we all know, as you certainly know and the president knows,
these are not just merely a collection of books. These are a
connection to the divine. They are extremely important. They cannot
be measured in value or worth by any means. And they need to be where
they belong and in the community of interest that owns them, that
reveres them, that uses them. And the sacred text belongs to them,
that they could see and have and learn and grow from.
It's a bit like having the secret book of the cure to cancer and
you know it's there, but you can't get access to it, but you know it's
there. And you want it. Only it's much more than that than a
physical issue. It's a spiritual issue.
And I really hope we can put this up on the agenda, high on the
agenda when the president meets with President Putin here the first
part of May.
O'DONNELL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for the
invitation to speak today and for holding this hearing.
And I just would like to emphasize that Secretary Rice had
answered Senator Coleman that she would continue to push this issue.
And we've continued to do that.
Ambassador Vershbow and our embassy in Moscow and here in the
State Department, White House officials and continuing to push on the
basis of the MOU, which is a Russian political commitment from 1992 to
both safeguard the Schneerson Collection and to continue to discuss
with us with best efforts to resolve the disposition of the Schneerson
issue.
Now, Secretary Rice will be going to Moscow April 19th and 20th.
And she intends to raise this issue. And that is our next step.
BROWNBACK: It is on her agenda to raise at that time?
O'DONNELL: Yes, sir.
BROWNBACK: Good.
O'DONNELL: And as I think you know, President Bush met with
President Putin in Bratislava at the end of February. And the letter
from the 100 senators was conveyed to the Russian delegation as a part
of that summit meeting. And so, we're continuing to push on this
issue.
And I understand your comments about the presidents meeting in
June. And I don't have information today on that, but certainly our
next step to focus on is Secretary Rice and her meeting in Moscow.
BROWNBACK: And then after that, I would ask that you would
convey to the administration that it be raised with President Putin at
the next time when they meet.
O'DONNELL: Yes, sir.
BROWNBACK: And it seems to me to be a fairly clear and quite a
doable thing for the Russian government to deal with. And I have some
great deal of difficulty understanding why it hasn't occurred when the
clear value of this and its clear ownership is obvious.
O'DONNELL: Well, from the Russian embassy, I can tell you what
they have conveyed to us is that they consider this to be a national
treasure and a part of their heritage and would set a precedent for
return of other archives and books and so on taken by the communist
government around the time of the Russian Revolution.
>From our standpoint, we go back to that MOU and that political
commitment from 1992 that we will continue to talk about this and also
safeguard the collection. And there are a number of objectives here,
but certainly safeguarding the collection, access by the Chabad
community for religious purposes are two. And that's where we're
working as well.
But again, as an interim measure, not as the long-term solution.
The long-term solution has to be -- and certainly is our position on
record -- is to help the Chabad community obtain the Schneerson
Collection.
BROWNBACK: Well, I hope you'll push that aggressively within the
administration. And it's something that's time. This has gone on for
a long time, and this is time for it to happen and for it to move on
forward.
Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much for joining us.
O'DONNELL: Thank you.
BROWNBACK: I appreciate your willingness to testify. And I
appreciate also your willingness to continue to press this issue with
some clear degree of strength of interest on this.
This should not be continuing. I understand they may view it as
part of a much bigger picture, but I would hope, if nothing else, they
could see a reason to separate it out for the sacredness of the text,
although I would think they also should deal with the bigger-picture
issue of if you've got things that were not conveyed to you but
acquired by other means, it seems that that should be reviewed as
well.
Thank you for being here today.
O'DONNELL: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
BROWNBACK: I apologize for how this is moving. But I wanted to
put in a statement at this point in time and present a portion of it
that I didn't get to at the speed earlier.
I'm pleased with all the people that are here today and the
interest in this topic.
Today's hearing is an effort by the Jewish Chabad community and
the United States to recover the Schneerson Collection of sacred
Jewish texts that is now in possession of the Russian government. And
our purpose is to try to give this community a chance to tell their
story and the history of these texts. As tragic as that story of
survival and faith is, it is also a story of hope and perseverance and
what it means to live spiritual lives.
There are many in the room today who have seen and lived through
unspeakable horrors during World War II and the Holocaust.
As a matter of fact, are there any Holocaust survivors that are
here today? And if they are, I would be honored if you would see fit
to stand. Would you please stand if you're a Holocaust survivor? My
goodness.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. You honor us greatly by your presence.
You know, it is an unspeakable thing that you have witnessed and
have been through and that your community has experienced. It's also
brought an insight into genocide, mass killing. Today is the 11th
anniversary of the Rwandan massacres that took place: 800,000 people.
Even as we're here today, a genocide exists in Darfur, Sudan,
that many in your community are involved in. And I'm sorry, deeply
sorry for what you experienced. It's also brought a light to that
experience that's happened in other places as well.
But thank you very, very much for being here and honoring us with
your presence. I hope afterwards, if we have some time, I can greet
some of you individually. I would very much appreciate that.
The value of the Schneerson Collection of sacred Jewish texts is
not financial, but immeasurably spiritual. They are a link between
humanity and divinity. In that sense, they belong to all of humanity
and on behalf of which the Chabad community has been entrusted with
their safekeeping.
On May 9th of this year, leaders from around the world will be in
Moscow to celebrate the end of World War II in Europe at a time when
the Soviet Union and the free world fought together to defeat Hitler
and the Nazis. It would be a welcome gesture by President Putin, on
the occasion of civilization's victory over fascism, to order the
return of the Schneerson Collection to its rightful owners.
Mr. Putin, I should add, has distinguished himself with many
positive gestures toward Russia's Jewish population. In June of 2002,
he issued a medal of courage to a Russian citizen after she was
injured trying to remove a booby-trapped anti-Semitic poster near
Moscow. In addition, President Putin has on various occasions
strongly and courageously condemned anti-Semitism in Russia. Jewish
culture is thriving today to a degree that would have seemed
completely unimaginable 20 years ago.
I hope the stories we hear today will persuade the Russian
government to reexamine its position on the Schneerson Collection and
return the original texts to the organization that Rabbi Schneerson
designated to seek its return.
As I mentioned, the U.S. government has been engaged for many
years regarding the Schneerson Collection. In addition to the efforts
by former President Clinton and Vice President Gore, President Bush
also raised the issue of the collection with President Putin at a
recent meeting. And on two separate occasions, all 100 members of the
Senate signed letters appealing to Presidents Yeltsin and Putin.
And I know of very few issues -- I don't know of another issue
where 100 members of the Senate, every one, has signed the letter. I
don't know of another issue.
(APPLAUSE)
To me, that bespeaks of the clarity of this issue.
During her confirmation hearing on January 19th of this year,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that the administration
will, quote, "very much push," end of quote, on the issue of the
Schneerson documents. And we look forward to hearing how that policy
is being implemented.
I'd like to thank members of the community that are here today
and have prepared written accounts of their persecution in Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union for being associated with Rabbi Schneerson
-- that they were persecuted for that. They have provided inspiring
narratives that will be entered into the written record. And we will
also be hearing some of the testimony.
Given the number of witnesses at today's hearing, I'd like to ask
the witnesses to summarize their statements and to observe the time
limits. Because of the number of witnesses that we have here, I will
be running the clock and will run these lights here on a five-minute
basis. And the reason is to really just try to keep things moving
along. It's not a hard and fast rule, but we really do want to try to
keep the hearing moving forward.
Your full statements will be a part of the record for the hearing
itself. So what you will be putting forward in writing will be there.
I'd like to ask the panel members on the second panel to now come
forward and take their seats, if you would.
On this second panel, we'll hear testimony from Rabbi Cunin,
senior executive member of Agudas Chabad community -- if I
mispronounce some of these words, I apologize, and some of these names
-- Jon Voight, Academy Award-winning actor and advocate for human
rights issues; Rabbi Joseph Wineberg, who survived the bombing of
Warsaw with Rabbi Schneerson and preserved parts of the Schneerson
Collection; Leon Fuerth, former national security adviser to Vice
President Albert Gore; Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, former assistant chief of
staff to the Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson; Marshall B. Grossman,
Esquire, representing the Agudas Chabad community in the legal effort
to recover the Schneerson Collection.
I'm delighted that each of you are here today. As I mentioned,
we will run the time clock, if we can get that started when we get
going here. I am very pleased that each of you would join us today.
Rabbi Cunin, I believe is here. Yes, please, would you open the
testimony of this second round? Thank you for joining us. Good to
see you again.
CUNIN: Chairman, Senator Brownback, all of the wonderful members
of our Congress, of our State Department, the White House, President
Bush, Secretary of State Rice, I am here today as a spokesman for our
rebbe. I have nothing to say.
I stood with our rebbe, whose spiritual presence can be felt in
this room. As we returned to the rebbe, Rabbi Alonov (ph) and myself,
to Rabbi Kogan (ph) from our delegation was able to get from the KGB
in Kiev the last audience with the rebbe before his stroke. And the
rebbe held gently a picture of his father, Rabbi Yitzchock, who died
in exile because of the KGB. The rebbe gently held the letters of his
mother, Rebbitzen Chana, begging for the release of her husband who
was imprisoned for baking matzah for Passover and sharing it with
others. And those letters were never sent anywhere because all they
sought to do was to destroy anyone who had any connection to Rabbi
Schneerson.
As the rebbe's books lie in cold, frigid cellars in the Russian
State Library, as the rebbe's manuscripts -- ancient manuscripts with
the handwriting of the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad, lie untouched
by human hands for close to 60 years, as potatoes lie in sacks, in the
freezing cellars of the military archives. I am here on behalf of the
rebbe to first say how much the rebbe's appreciation and blessing is
to this great country. God bless America.
America was the one who opened its arms to the Chabad movement
with the coming of the previous rebbe here in 1940. Americans were
the ones who saved his lives; the lives of all of those that were
saved is only because of the intervention of this great country. God
bless America.
You will hear from the other members of our panel all the beauty
that lies in these books, those sparks, the soul trapped in isolation,
in loneliness, their lives in danger, the lives of the sparks, because
of their horrific conditions that the physical papers that they are
written on find themselves in.
Eight hundred years ago Maimonides wrote (inaudible) whose books
are entombed in these prisons, "There will come a time" -- as the
rebbe told us, "(inaudible) do what you could do to make an end to
this horrific suffering."
Maimonides wrote, "There will come a time there will be no more
war, no more suffering. (inaudible)." Eight hundred years ago
Maimonides wrote this, that the period is coming of goodness and of
kindness with the redemption that will cover the face of the Earth as
the waters cover the bed of the sea.
Thank you. God bless you.
BROWNBACK: Thank you, Rabbi. Thank you, Rabbi.
We'll next have Jon Voight.
VOIGHT: I'd like to pass for the moment, Senator.
BROWNBACK: OK.
Rabbi Wineberg is who I had next. And we will also have -- there
is an additional witness I did not announce, Rabbi Isaac Kogan will
also be testifying.
But, Rabbi Wineberg, are you prepared to testify?
WINEBERG: I would like to thank you...
BROWNBACK: Let me get that microphone up a little closer, if you
could. Thank you. Thank you very much.
WINEBERG: May the Almighty bless you all for this great
gathering for what you will accomplish, with God's help, for mankind
in general -- not only for the Jewish people, but for mankind in
general.
It's a very serious matter, and people are in a very serious
mood. And we were told by our sages, talmudical sages, that they had
the power, the godly power to put a whole philosophy in a few words,
that always one should begin with a little light sense; call it a joke
or whatever.
I would like to say the first thing that I always say that
English is my mother tongue: My mother didn't know the language, and
I don't know the language.
(LAUGHTER)
Another thing that also our sages taught is us to begin with a
word of praise and honor for the host.
And in a sense we are today the guests of the very, very great
institution called the Helsinki Commission. May I make a statement
that every head like a Helsinki -- such an institution in the '30s, in
1938, 1939, perhaps, and maybe more than perhaps, that 60 million
people that perished in the Second World War would not perish.
(APPLAUSE)
Unfortunately the forces of evil started doing things wholesale,
not just to kill one person, several persons, the entire world.
They're out, God forbid, against the entire world, including
themselves with the suicide bombers and so on. And any good act like
this to save treasures of spiritual and moral values for which are not
only for the Jewish people, it's for the entire mankind, because the
entire mankind take from our Bible, from our Talmud and so on. And
you could never know what one saying could accomplish -- one saying.
I had the great merit to observe the rebbe in the most difficult
times, in his most difficult days, in Warsaw when they bombed Warsaw.
And (inaudible), may his name be erased, Hitler said a statement that
he is going to make Warsaw flat. He flattened out Warsaw. And on
such a day, the day before Rosh Hashanah, before the new year -- that
was in 1939 before Rosh Hashanah.
I was standing with the rebbe, and it was under bombardment
across the street. A six-story house fell, and the entire house was
destroyed. Many, many casualties. We went into each and every house
in Warsaw was a system that had a yard, a backyard. And we were
staying between walls in order to -- shrapnel from the bombardment
would not hit us.
And I took the rebbe -- point at them, two suitcases. One was
one of these books, perhaps as a symbol one. The other one was the
rebbe's phylacteries, tefillin, and prayer shawl standing there.
Seeing later how the rebbe in the most difficult days was so concerned
about the library, about the archives and so on, I had a deeper
understanding why we are called the People of the Book -- that's what
we are called, the Am HaSefer, the People of the Book.
Because at base (ph) I just remembered late after I was
interviewed -- I just remembered in 1947, I went in a mission from the
previous rebbe to South Africa.
Over there there was a Rabbi Hasdan (ph). He was in Stockholm at
the beginning of the war. And he showed me letter after letter about
where the rebbe had written to him because the books were supposed to
go -- those books that were in Warsaw -- to go to Stockholm and from
Stockholm to the United States because the rebbe was hoping to come to
Israel before the rebbe came to the United States. One letter after
the other -- when the rebbe was very much worried about his own
children, the success of the present rebbe and his own daughters and
so on and then about his spiritual children, the students of the
yeshiva. At the same time the rebbe had shown such concern about the
books.
May I just make it short? God bless you for taking up an issue
which is the concern of the entire mankind. And by saving it, you are
saving -- like a statement also from our sages: Saving one soul is
like saving an entire world.
Here by saving such a thing, you have removed a blemish for the
entire world that was not active enough to save us when we were at the
Holocaust. And also to see to it that these treasures should come out
openly, and people should learn from these beautiful words (ph) and
with them and with all of you together to meet the righteous messiah
speedily.
(APPLAUSE)
BROWNBACK: Thank you, Rabbi. Thank you. Beautiful.
And when you say it's not just for your community, it's for the
whole world, I say amen to that. A gentleman, Rabbi Sherman that
maybe some of you know in New York, has sent me several editions of
interpretations of the writings of the Talmud and then interpretations
by the sages. And periodically I'll pull those out and look.
And I feel like I'm a spiritual child there drinking of that same
well. And one can only imagine then what's in this set of books and
then how much we starve humanity when they're left in the cold. They
need human contact. They need contact with souls to be able to
flourish.
And we are the poorer. Mankind is the poorer when that doesn't
occur. Thanks for continuing to push that.
Leon Fuerth: Thank you very much, Professor, for joining us.
FUERTH: It's a great honor.
I must say that when I was a staffer up here, I used to sit back
where my former colleagues are now sitting. And little did I imagine
ever winding up on this side of your table. But it's a very good
opportunity, and I treat it as a great honor.
Before I begin, I'd like to note simply that we transmitted
electronically a copy of a message from former Vice President Gore.
At some point, I can turn over to you a hard copy of it for your file.
BROWNBACK: Thank you.
FUERTH: You already have my statement. And in keeping with the
need for speed, I want to just touch on the reasons why as a senator
and then as part of the Clinton/Gore administration, a decision was
made to pursue this issue and why it was pursued with such tenacity.
I think there were two fundamental things in play. One of them
was an understanding of the meaning of these books rather much in the
same way that you, sir, understood them.
I mean, now that we're in the age of the microfiche and the
floppy disk, it's not quite the same to have a library. But when
you're in the presence of the physical objects that have passed
through the hands and the minds of those who have gone before you,
that is a connection which future generations may miss as we move from
paper to electronics and from reality into the ether.
These books are sacred, not only because of what they contain,
which is a record of a spiritual struggle to understand the will of
God, but they are also sacred because of who has owned them and spent
their lives pouring over them and has used them to teach younger
generations. We understood that, as do you.
Secondly, at the particular period of time when we first met,
this community -- and I'm not using the royal we; it's then-Senator
Gore and myself as his staffer -- Russia had emerged from the Soviet
Union under very uncertain circumstances. It was threatened all
around by chaos. You couldn't tell whether that country would
collapse entirely, whether it would be taken over again by the
communists, whether or not it would be taken over by a man on
horseback.
So you watched for signs about which way this new government was
going. And we thought that their fidelity to their pledge to return
this book was a bigger symbol and a bigger indicator of where they
were really going to go.
We understood that they were surrounded by opponents. I remember
very vividly seeing an edition of a Russian newspaper printed by
Pamyat, a right-wing fascist organization which was very vocal in
those days. It contained cartoons of Jews. And I remembered years
ago getting a book from the Anti-Defamation League showing the way in
which Nazi newspapers portrayed Jews as cartoon figures. And I took
the book off my shelf and discovered it was the same symbols over
again.
And so, I understood that there was going on in front of us a
fight over which way Russia would go. And these books were an
indicator of how things were going to transpire.
And finally, there is the question of the rule of law, whether or
not when you go to a court of arbitration and you get a decision, the
decision can be enforced by that court. And in Russia, that was not
the case. And these books became a symbol of progress or lack of
progress in that direction.
Finally, because I was directly involved, I want to mention the
MOU. That MOU was negotiated to be interim. It was a middle step for
confidence building and to help secure the physical well-being of the
books until such time as their final disposition was made. It was
negotiated with the clear understanding that it did not compromise
either side's position as to what should be the end state of the
books.
But the U.S. government in those years always made it clear that
in our view the proper location for the library was with the
Schneerson Collection in New York, and the sooner, the better.
(APPLAUSE)
BROWNBACK: Thank you.
During questioning, I want to discuss with you some of the
conversations you had with Russian officials at that time, too.
Rabbi Krinsky, let's go to your testimony, if we could, at this
time.
KRINSKY: Chairman Brownback and all the esteemed members of the
Helsinki Commission, I want to assure you of the profound gratitude of
Chabad-Lubavitch communities and beyond all around the world for your
realization of the importance of this issue and for your concern and
the time you are devoting to it. God grant you success.
In 1957, I was appointed a member of the secretariat of the
rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory. I served the
rebbe in that capacity for 40 years. During those years, I was
intimately aware of the rebbe's deep concern and hope that the
Schneerson Collection would be returned to its rightful home.
Those raised in the Chabad tradition cherish these books and
manuscripts. To us, their value is not about art and perhaps not even
sanctity. It's about family. These books are like human beings.
They give life to life.
There is no question that the Schneerson Collection at the heart
of these hearings was wrongfully seized. There is no question, and I
needn't tell you, that they were seized neither for love of Judaism or
interest in the scholarly works of the Chabad rebbes that motivated
the seizure of the Schneerson Collection. There is no doubt that
withholding them today rewards the evil gain of a dark, sinister and
destructive past.
In September 2000, I attended the dedication ceremony of the
Chabad-Lubavitch center in Moscow, the Marina Roscha synagogue that
was mentioned before. President Vladimir Putin was there, and he
spoke. He addressed the thousands of people gathered in the plaza
before the new edifice and before the international media.
He spoke passionately in praise of Lubavitch work in Russia and
expressed deep regret and apologies for the persecution that Lubavitch
suffered at the hands of the earlier Russian regime.
Mr. Putin spoke with admiration for the accomplishments of
Lubavitch in Russia, for its effectiveness in rebuilding Jewish
communities and Jewish life throughout the vast country.
He talked of the value and virtue of Chabad's education network
of schools that are finally, he said, providing Jewish children with
the education they need and deserve and its ramifications for the good
for the larger Russian population.
And then Mr. Putin pledged to do whatever he could to help
Lubavitch in its vital work for the benefit of the Jewish people.
Following that ceremony, I had a private conversation with
President Putin. He was interested to learn that both my parents were
born and raised in Russia. He gave me reason to believe that justice
and love of peace and goodness are values he personally subscribes to
and aspires to and that they are part of his vision as a world leader.
The return of the Schneerson Collection under his tenure would
offer genuine and lasting testimony of his allegiance to justice and
the values of a free and just society.
I think you will agree that the position we are in here today as
we sit here, where Chabad is forced to plead for the return of its
books, is implausibly and patently absurd. They belong to us; they
should be returned to us without any further delay.
I have also submitted a full written statement for the commission
and would be happy to answer your questions if there are any.
BROWNBACK: Thank you, Rabbi. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Marshall Grossman, who has represented the legal efforts to
recover the Schneerson Collection?
GROSSMAN: Mr. Chairman, thank you.
BROWNBACK: Yes, sir.
GROSSMAN: And thanks to all members of the commission, to Shawn
Woo (ph), to John Finnerty (ph), to your remarkable staff.
I learned of the work of your commission in Moscow in helping
Anatoly Sharansky and Eda Neudell (ph) before they were victims of
show trials and later exiled, both internal and to Siberia. I never
thought that I would be before you one day.
My colleagues Seth Gerber (ph) and Jonathan Stern (ph) and I have
been working on the legal front to try to right an injustice. We went
through the legal system in Moscow. We played by the rules. We won
in the trial court and in the supreme arbitration court. Those two
courts held that this library -- the archives were not known to be in
existence at that time -- that this library had not been nationalized;
that it was owned by Rebbe Schneerson.
And then a funny thing happened on the way to execution. A sole
deputy or assistant in ex parte proceedings without notice to anybody
on the Chabad side issued an order purporting to nullify the court's
decisions.
Secretary Eagleburger saw through that when he found -- I don't
know what it means as a policy decision; I'm not a nuance guy, I'm a
direct guy -- when he found that there was a final enforceable
judgment ordering the return of these books that had not been
executed. That's what Secretary Eagleburger found.
To attempt to enforce this order before the ex parte conduct met
with the most hideous of treatment at the hands of the Russian State
Library. Many of the rabbis sitting here were threatened by Russian
State Library police officers when they attempted to retrieve the
library.
Library officials told them that the library was closed because
of excess contamination of dust and microbes. They could not get
access to these books which Russia now claims to be a national
t, reasure.
The head of the manuscript department at the library got on a
bullhorn and incited thugs outside of the library to inflict bodily
harm on many of these rabbis who are sitting here today.
The press did not respond very favorably in Moscow to the
judicial decrees. Both Pravda and an extreme right-wing publication
said that the reason why the "Talmudic yids" wanted their books back
was because they hid the secrets of Jewish crimes against Christians.
That's what these men have gone through.
The Russians fault us for suing in the United States. We can't
use self-help to get these books back. So we are now seeking legal
recourse in the United States.
This commission did not ignore the rulings of the courts in
Moscow. On January 24, 1992, this commission wrote and requested
President Boris Yeltsin to return the library to Chabad.
We spoke earlier of 100 senators signing a letter, and a critical
letter, just a couple months ago. It was the second time it was done.
May 31, 1992, all 100 senators signed a letter to President Yeltsin.
Interim agreement? State Department listen clearly: That
agreement is dead. Moscow has not performed. The United States has
performed. When Chabad sent eight high-speed, $50,000 worth of
microfilm machines to that library to duplicate that library
consistent with the interim agreement, they were turned away and
unable to even photocopy the library. It is a dead letter. The time
to return those books is now.
National treasure? National treasure accumulated during the
course of some of the most vicious persecution, death squads and
interrogations, including interrogation into imprisonment of the
Lubavitch rebbe. That's a national treasure? Moscow, you have a very
strange way of showing what you consider to be your national
treasures.
Mr. Chairman, you and this commission understand what a national
treasure is. These men are national treasures. The men and women of
Chabad are national treasures, and they deserve to be reunited with
their family, which are the books and the manuscripts, the teachings
of our people.
I thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
BROWNBACK: Thank you very much.
Rabbi Isaac Kogan?
I want to introduce this witness adequately. He's a former
refusenik and a member of the community in Moscow, the delegation
appointed by Lubavitcher rebbe Rabbi Schneerson to secure the return
of the Schneerson Collection. So this is a key additional wit, ness. ,,
, , <, BR>I'm delighted that you are here to join us and very much
appreciate your traveling to be with us here today.
KOGAN: Thank you.
BROWNBACK: De nada.
KOGAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Today it is my honor, my dear
fellows, to stand before you and tell you about these books and these
collections of those who passed away and those who perished looking to
protect these books and who studied from these books.
Today marks the day this week when, in 1938, 10 students of Rabbi
Schneerson were taken out to be shot only for one reason: for their
association with Rabbi Schneerson and his teachings. These were
friends of my grandfather, who was also put to death in 1950.
Today I'm going to report to you a book that will bring forth the
history of the Lubavitch community.
Today is a very special day for the Jews of Russia to receive
their freedom. Today freedom in Russia for Jews is where anybody can
go to Israel, if they so wish to. They can go to school, Jewish
schools. They can practice in every which way they feel comfortable
in Russia.
That is all when we talk about freedom today in Russia, that's a
physical freedom that has been expressed today. However, the
spiritual freedom is when we're able to take from these books and
teach our children and pass it along to the next generation.
If my grandfather was alive and here today, he would be thanking
you for you taking part in this struggle. And God should give you
strength and that in the near future we should see the good results.
And I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
BROWNBACK: And please express to him a great deal of
appreciation for traveling the distance and being willing to respond
to questions. It's greatly appreciated.
Jon Voight is an Academy Award-winning actor and human rights
advocate who has been willing to join us today.
And I'm very delighted, quite pleased you'd be willing to come.
VOIGHT: Thank you, Senator.
It's a great honor for me to be invited to speak to this
prestigious committee of yours and to stand with these extraordinary
people. I'm very humbled to be at this table with all these
righteous, extraordinarily courageous people who have suffered so much
for their beliefs.
I am deeply disappointed, as I know everyone in this room is,
that the Russian representatives chose to ignore this very, very
important moment for us all. Nevertheless, the truth will be heard.
And in time -- hopefully sooner than later -- this will have a happy
resolve. And I am hoping that what I have to say reaches these
representatives in a very profound way and they can see how important
it is to return these holy books to their rightful owner.
My name is Jon Voight, and I am here to show my solidarity with
my good and dear friend, Rabbi Cunin. Everyone asks what is my
connection to Rabbi Cunin and his cause. And I think of what Rabbi
Wineberg said: You should always start with something amusing. I
can't think of anything too amusing except that when I'm with the
rabbi, everything is an adventure and a happy occasion in many ways.
Always when I speak to the rabbi, when I say, "How are you?" --
you know, we used to do this all the time. We greet each other all
the time, everyone, you know, "How are you?" Some people say, "Well,
let me tell you," you know, whatever. I know when I'm going to meet
these gentlemen and I say, "How are you?" and I ask them all the time
just because I see the smile on their faces.
They say, "Thank God, good." And it doesn't make any difference
what their day is like up to that point; that's the energy that they
have, that they give to you, that they expect everyone as human beings
to appreciate life and the possibilities that exist. And I'm here in
that manner, too, to appreciate the possibilities for change in this
very dramatic adventure that we're in.
But they ask what's my connection to this cause. Well, since I'm
of Catholic faith, I understand the basic values of life, including
the Ten Commandments. And they say, "Thou shalt not steal." And I'm
addressing this to the Russian government -- the representatives of
the government of Russia.
These books are the voices of the ancestors of the Hebrew nation.
For anyone else to claim them as their own is a reminder of all the
anti-Semitic pollution through years of genocide and destruction of
human life.
I say they do not serve you since you are not putting them to use
as they are meant to be. Please release Rabbi Schneerson's books. It
could prove to the world that you are willing to try to heal the
wounds of the survivors of the Holocaust.
Jews and Christians alike are praying for this resolve, as are
all the believers of true brotherhood among all people. To hold them
as your own is a reminder of everyone who does wrong and harm to
others and cannot find the road to repentance and become better.
You can be the givers of a gift that will prove to the world we
are all under the care of God's order to love your neighbor as
yourself.
I send you all my love, and I pray that this message reaches that
part of your soul that speaks to the ability in us to answer God's
commandments.
(APPLAUSE)
Thanks very much, Senator.
BROWNBACK: Thank you.
We have several other individuals on the panel who will be
willing to respond to questions. I want to ask some questions of some
of the panelists. And if others of you see questions that you would
like to respond to, please indicate to me so that we can get those
into the record.
Please keep your responses direct and to the point, if you could,
so that we could get as many of these covered as possible.
I direct this first one to Rabbi Kogan, if I could. And if you
could translate this, I would appreciate it.
I am curious to understand the inside view, if you can give that
at all, of President Putin and the Russian government as to why they
refuse to negotiate or refuse to return these books. This seems to me
to be a very clear case of the Russians have something that belongs to
somebody else and that they should be returned.
To the degree you can give me insight, what is the internal
thinking as to why this has not occurred?
And, Mr. Fuerth, you might think about that as well.
Actually while he's translating that, could you respond to me
about what you saw from the Russians in your negotiations when you
were with the vice president on this collection?
KOGAN: Perestroika only started, but not finished.
BROWNBACK: So it is something that internally they know it's the
right thing to do, but they are not yet willing or capable of doing
it?
KOGAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Inside the Russian government, there
still remain elements of -- the minister of culture, in particular --
there still remain elements of that anti-Semitic feeling that was
there for years that has yet to wash itself out. So inside those
structures, there is still that element of when they were originally
taken -- are still there today, that energy.
I came back today to see that they would return these books.
They asked me to come back. The Russian embassy asked me today about
in some way or another to try to cool down this type of discussion.
BROWNBACK: Well, I have a good way for that to happen: Just
return the books.
(APPLAUSE)
Thanks for being here.
Professor Fuerth, what did you get from the Russians when you
were negotiating with them? Why do they keep these when they clearly
don't belong to them?
FUERTH: Well, from the Russians directly, what you would get
would be the kind of legalistic argument that you see in the documents
that the commission recently received from the Russian government.
And that would be as far as they would go in an official dialogue over
why they were doing this.
So we were left to wonder, as you are, why cling to these books?
Why not simply solve the issue by slicing through all of these knots?
And I think that Rabbi Kogan's explanation is a good one. In the
particular context of the time when I was serving, I felt that
President Yeltsin was sincere when he made commitments to return them.
And I think he understood why they should come back.
But I also thought that doing something like this was something
of a political third rail; that it was hard for us sitting here to
understand how something like that might be converted into an issue
for Russian leadership at that particular time.
I remember that Yeltsin was accused in the newspapers of giving
away Russia's patrimony. And this was also in the context of every
other effort that Yeltsin was making to try to relink Russia in a
process of give and take to the rest of the world. Every step he took
forward, he was accused of giving up something precious for Russia.
So the best I can make out, it was exactly as Rabbi Kogan says:
The hangover of something that had been around for a long time and
hadn't gone away, namely, the basic anti-Semitism, resentment of the
fall of the Soviet Union among some and the loss of power and
prestige, anger at the temerity of some to demand that the Russian
government do anything to please anybody when they didn't want to.
And for some at the very top, the possibility that what might seem to
be an easy thing to us could release a firestorm for them.
BROWNBACK: Of a populist backlash that they are giving away
national treasures, even though these are sacred Jewish texts?
FUERTH: They are Jewish texts. And I also think it's important
to remember the agony that the Russian people were going through
during this time and the possibility that some leader other than the
ones who are trying to run the Russian government would direct their
anger at a stand-in. I mean, this was a classical pattern throughout
czarist Russian history: find someone upon whom you could unload your
anger.
BROWNBACK: Did they think that this would lead -- that other
things and perhaps other types of collections would have to be taken
out of Russia?
FUERTH: Yes.
BROWNBACK: I mean, was that -- this is really the tip of the
spear, and they just didn't think they could stop?
FUERTH: Their basic legal argument was built around a fear that
if they did this, since so many other objects in their possession had
been obtained in much the same way, what would be the basis on which
they would say no to the many other claimants who would come forward
and wish to avail themselves of the precedent which we were asking
them to set?
The case has been made that where the books are concerned, they
really didn't create this precedent because the books weren't
nationalized. They weren't the same as many other objects that the
Soviets had seized.
But that's the way the Russian officials looked at it,
particularly officials within the library system because they had the
most to lose.
BROWNBACK: OK. All right.
Mr. Grossman, I want to ask you a question of what the Russian
government claims. And I would like to get your response.
The Russian government claims that the United States government
is not in compliance with the MOU signed in '93 between yourself and
the minister of culture of the Russian Federation. How do you respond
to that assertion?
GROSSMAN: From everything that we have seen, the United States
government attempted to comply. Chabad attempted to assist the United
States government.
In the year 2000, Rabbi Dov Ber Levinson (ph), who is on my left
with Rabbi Cunin as well, went to Moscow with eight brand new Canon
high-speed microfiche machines in order to at least copy what was
there. He was turned away. To our knowledge, those machines are
still somewhere in Moscow gathering rust.
So much for the Russian compliance or the Russian facilitation of
American compliance.
I want to also emphasize that Chabad was not a party to that
interim agreement. Chabad is not a signatory to it. But Chabad,
although not a party, did everything within its power to facilitate
compliance on the United States side.
And as Professor Fuerth mentioned during his remarks, it was and
is an interim agreement. There is an express provision in the
agreement that the ultimate possession or retention of the library is
to be determined at a later date.
And I wish to close my answer to your question by emphasizing one
salient point that has not been emphasized enough today.
This library's home is in New York, as is the home of the
manuscripts. It is not in Moscow. The rebbe was a citizen of the
United States with residency in New York. As a United States citizen,
he is entitled to the return of his property, which upon moving to the
United States in 1940 he declared he held in trust for the worldwide
Chabad community.
It boils my blood to think that the Russian government can
somehow satisfy its legal and moral imperative by treating these books
as nothing more than museum artifacts to be loaned out one by one or
displayed in cases or to permit people to come and use them in a
government building. That is not how this library or these
manuscripts have been used historically.
They are family members. They are teaching tools. They include
Hasidic teaching, philosophy, prayers, 25,000 pages in the handwriting
of a series of several generations of Chabad rebbes.
These are not museum pieces. These belong to Chabad in the
United States. And we will settle for nothing else, State Department
and Moscow representatives sitting behind me, here me clearly.
BROWNBACK: Rabbi Cunin, you talked about the need for these
books to interact with souls. When these books are returned, when
they come to their rightful owners, what will you do with them? How
will they be used and preserved?
CUNIN: We have Rabbi Levinson (ph), who is our librarian who the
rebbe chose as his representative to interact with these books. Under
his tutelage, scholars will go through every handwritten word of the
rebbe's little notations on the sides of the books. They will look at
the manuscripts.
First, Rabbi Levinson (ph) will preserve them properly. Then the
team of scholars that work under him will publish them.
Then we will open them up, as is happening now in honor of the
rebbe's birthday, the 11th of Nisan. The whole library was redone.
Rabbi Krinsky and myself had the input to help all of this happen.
We hope for the rebbe's birthday that the answer will be --
Senator Brownback, you will come with other people of goodwill, people
of righteousness by the rebbe's birthday.
How much time do we have left, around a month, three weeks, to
come to utilize the facilities where these manuscripts will have
joined all the rest of them, those that were given back by the Polish
government? This is all family, as Mr. Grossman said before. And
there it'll be open to the entire world.
We have the expertise there. There's no expertise at the Chabad
in Russia or anyone else in Russia to be able to deal with this.
There is your expert. He sits here with us.
BROWNBACK: Rabbi Cunin, there is an active and growing Chabad
community in Russia today. The Russian government has returned a few
items from the collection to that synagogue in Moscow.
What role does the Russian Lubavitch community play in the effort
to have the collection returned to the Schneerson Library in New York
City?
CUNIN: Rabbi Kogan...
BROWNBACK: This is something that the Russian government raises.
CUNIN: What the Russian government raises I can't take
responsibility for because I lived with them for three years, and I
have been through every one of their games, including the MOU or this
or that.
And please be aware Mr. Putin's a wonderful human being. And,
boy, does he know how to get these books returned. He is a strong
leader. He knows what to say and to whom. And they'll be on a plane
back to the states at the snap of a finger; very, very swiftly.
Rabbi Kogan is the representative that the rebbe set up in the
center of Moscow to speak on behalf of the Chabad community in Russia.
And he has spoken clearly today. Rabbi Kogan is the rabbi of the
Agudas Chasidei Chabad headquarters for all of the former Soviet Union
-- built a beautiful building filled with people. Thousands of people
come to study and to go through his hands in the center of Moscow.
BROWNBACK: Then let me return that question to Rabbi Kogan.
Then the Russian government -- there's a growing community of
yours in Russia. The Russian government has returned a few items from
the Schneerson Collection to the synagogue in Moscow. What do you
respond -- what do you say to the Russian government about why don't
you get us more of these back if you returned a few of these?
KOGAN: In 15 years, was returned only 39 books. Schneerson
Collection Library has 12,000 volumes. It is enough for some 1,000
years.
BROWNBACK: But why not more? Why have they not -- why do they
say, "OK, 39, yes, but..."
KOGAN: It is the reason why I am today with you.
BROWNBACK: But they would give some back. Why did they give
some back then? Did they say to you why that?
KOGAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I cannot explain that.
Because during 15 years, they give one book like a present for
Albert Gore. And during 14 years, they gave 38 for Russian community,
nothing more.
BROWNBACK: Well, none of it makes much sense.
I want to thank the panel and all of you attending here today.
This is an incredible collection. It's an incredibly important set of
documents. They need to be returned. They need to be returned now.
We are going to continue to push here from the Senate, from our
government to do everything that we can.
I don't understand this. This doesn't make any sense to me. So
those are some of the more frustrating policy issues when you get
involved in those that don't make any sense and you're saying, "Well,
why -- this is fairly straightforward for us to do."
What also doesn't make sense to me is that I know that people die
for lack of knowledge, for lack of wisdom. Without a vision, the
people perish. And here you've got a set of documents that have
incredible knowledge in them that is very harmful not to have people
access to them and using them. And that in and of itself should be
the reason why that these should be returned.
My cause is with you. To me, this is a key issue for us in
standing up the Helsinki Commission is to stand for human rights. And
to me, one of the very first, the foremost human right is what you do
with your own soul. And here you're standing up for a set of
documents that nourish and feed the soul. And that should be
contained and should be dealt with, and they should be returned for
that purpose.
I'll push this administration. We'll be pushing the Russian
administration to do whatever we can to see that this take place.
(APPLAUSE)
So I want to thank you. I want to thank you all for attending
here today this hearing. I'm sorry some of my colleagues had to
leave.
I do want to invite, if I could impose upon, those of you that
are Holocaust survivors to come up to the front here for a group
picture. I would be deeply honored if you'd be willing to do that.
And with that, as they're coming forward, we are adjourning this
hearing.
[Whereupon the hearing ended at 4:18 p.m.]
Lubavitcher
Ambassador Edward B. O'Donnell addresses Helsinki Commission hearing
04/08/05
Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State.
Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov
The United States government remains committed to working with the
Russian government and the Lubavitch community on the issue of the
"Schneerson Collection" of sacred and irreplaceable Jewish books and
manuscripts, Ambassador Edward B. O'Donnell testified in a Helsinki
Commission hearing April 6.
O'Donnell, the special envoy for Holocaust issues, outlined in his
prepared testimony U.S. government efforts in support of a resolution
of this issue, the current U.S. government position, and the current
Russian position as Russian officials have conveyed it to the U.S.
State Department.
The Schneerson collection of Jewish books and manuscripts sacred to the
Lubavitch Chasidic community is currently housed at the Russian State
Library and the Russian State Military Archive. It consists of two
parts: a library seized by the former Soviet government after the 1917
revolution in Russia, and an archive believed to have been seized by
the Nazis when they captured Warsaw, Poland, in 1939 and subsequently
seized by the Soviets at the end of World War II.
"In a 1993 Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Government
received a political commitment from the Russians to transfer the
Schneerson Library to a facility that was both readily accessible to
the Chabad community as well as better suited for the protection and
conservation of fragile and valuable documents," said O'Donnell.
But the both the question of access to and preservation of the
collection and of the collection's ultimate home remain at issue, he
said.
"The Russians made a political commitment to negotiate a resolution
of the final status of the Schneerson Library, but now maintain that
they are prepared only to discuss the use of the library and not its
transfer," he said. "Russian officials maintain that the
establishment of the Center for Oriental Literature and the
refurbishment of a building to house the Center show Russia's intention
to provide the Schneerson Library with a modern and appropriate
facility."
Chabad leaders, on the other hand, do not believe that having limited,
periodic access to the collection is sufficient.
Among the other witnesses testifying at the hearing was Leon Fuerth,
the former national security advisor to Vice President Albert Gore, who
recounted efforts to achieve the return of the collection during the
Clinton administration. Gore also submitted a prepared statement on
those efforts.
The Helsinki Commission wrote Russian President Vladimir Putin on
February 22 urging him "to take every appropriate measure" to see
the collection restored to the Lubavitch Chasidic community.
In its letter, the commission noted that all 100 U.S. senators had
signed a letter to President Putin requesting his assistance in the
return of the collection.
A transcript of the hearing, statements by the witnesses, and a
statement by the Russian government are available on the Helsinki
Commission's Web site at www.csce.gov.
The U.S. Helsinki Commission, which is also known as the Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe, is an independent federal agency
that monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the
Helsinki Accords. The commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine
senators, nine representatives, and one official each from the
departments of State, Defense and Commerce.
Following is O'Donnell's prepared statement:
(begin text)
THE SCHNEERSON COLLECTION AND HISTORICAL JUSTICE
Ambassador Edward B. O'Donnell, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues
Testimony Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, D.C.
April 6, 2005
Chairman Brownback, Co-Chairman Smith, CSCE Commissioners, thank you
for this opportunity to discuss with the Commission the case of the
Schneerson Collection. This complex issue has been on our diplomatic
agenda with Russia for many years. The fate of the Schneerson
Collection resonates as an issue of basic fairness for members of
Congress, and for Americans of various faiths.
My testimony will address past United States Government efforts in
support of a resolution of this issue, the current United States
Government position, and the current Russian position as Russian
officials have conveyed it to us.
Past Efforts of the United States
The U.S. Government has long been involved in the effort to facilitate
a mutually agreeable arrangement between the Russian Government and
Agudas Chasidei Chabad ("Chabad") concerning the possession of and
access to the Schneerson Collection, which consists of two parts. One
part is the Schneerson Library, a collection of religious texts
maintained by the first five Lubavitcher Rebbes dating to 1772. The
Government of the USSR took possession of the library after the 1917
revolution and, since 1924, has housed it in the Russian State Library.
The Schneerson Library has been the focus of our attention since the
early 1990s.
The second part of the Collection is an archive of the teachings of the
successive Lubavitcher Rebbes. We understand that the Lubavitch
organization learned about this material in early 2003 and that it is
comprised of documents that the then Rebbe took from Moscow to
Rostov-on-the-Don in 1917 and subsequently took to Riga and Warsaw. It
is believed that the Nazis seized the archive when they captured Warsaw
in 1939 and that the USSR took custody of the archive either in Germany
or in Poland at the end of World War II and shipped it to Moscow. It is
now stored in the Russian Military Archive outside Moscow.
When it learned about this second Archive, Chabad asked Ambassador
Vershbow for advice on how to proceed. The Ambassador responded that
after Chabad submitted a formal request for the Archive to the Russian
Government, the Embassy would follow-up. Chabad has not yet advised the
Embassy that it has submitted a formal request to the Russian
Government. The Department has informed Chabad of the possibility of a
government-to-government claim. The Embassy has requested permission to
inspect the Archive.
So that we can distinguish between these two separate entities, I will
use the term "Library" for the items we have known about for more than
two decades, and the term "Archive" for the recently discovered
materials. The term Collection will be used to refer to the two
entities together.
Since the early 1990s, the United States Government strongly supported
efforts by Chabad to obtain the Schneerson Library. Our efforts were at
the level of presidential summits, as well as in cabinet, ambassadorial
and working level diplomatic discussions.
In 1992, Acting Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger denied the
Russian State Library, formerly the Lenin State Library, assistance
under the FREEDOM Support Act. He made this decision as a policy
matter, based on the Russian State Library's continued possession of
the Schneerson Library. In so doing, Acting Secretary Eagleburger noted
that the U.S. Government was committed to seeing the Schneerson Library
transferred to its rightful owners and had raised the issue with
President Gorbachev and President Yeltsin.
In a 1993 Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Government
received a political commitment from the Russians to transfer the
Schneerson Library to a facility that was both readily accessible to
the Chabad community as well as better suited for the protection and
conservation of fragile and valuable documents.
The Government of Russia formally established the Center for Oriental
Literature in 1993 under the umbrella of the Russian State Library,
thus creating a new home for the Collection. The original plan called
for the transfer of the Schneerson Library to the Center for Oriental
Literature to take place by March 1994. The building designated by the
Russian Government for the new center, however, required far more
extensive renovations than were foreseen originally. A lack of funding
slowed construction. The result was a decade of delay. The Center
formally opened in 2003. Renovation of the building is now nearing
completion. The building includes separate space for the storage of the
Schneerson library as well as space for Chabad adherents to perform
religious ceremonies. We understand that the Russian State Library
expects to complete the transfer of the Schneerson Library to the
Center for Oriental Literature in May.
A second subject of the discussions was a library-to-library loan,
which was arranged in 1994 between the Russian State Library and the
Library of Congress. The loaned books are still in the United States.
The terms of the loan have been the cause of continuing disagreement.
In addition, Russia made a good-will gesture in 1993 when Russia
presented then Vice President Gore with one book from the library. The
Vice President immediately presented the book to the Lubavitch
community.
In 2002, the Russian State Library permanently gave a number of volumes
from the Schneerson Library to the Lubavitch synagogue in Moscow,
Marina Roscha. The Schneerson library had more than one copy of these
volumes.
In summary, the discussions, based on the 1993 MOU, centered on two
separate issues access to and the preservation of the collection, and
a permanent resolution of the issue. The result of years of often
intense effort has been a minimum of progress on these issues.
Position of the United States Government
This Administration remains committed to working with the Russian
Government and the Lubavitch community to resolve this issue. Each of
our ambassadors to Russia over the past 15 years has been personally
involved in this effort. Our Embassy in Moscow monitors events
concerning the Schneerson Collection closely and maintains contact with
all of the parties involved.
In 2003, Ambassador Vershbow suggested to both the Russian Minister of
Culture and to Chabad that the two parties meet with him at the Embassy
for a "roundtable" discussion of the Schneerson Library issue. The
Embassy continues to offer this proposal.
I also want to acknowledge the helpful and important interventions by
Members of Congress on this issue, the most recent being the letter to
President Putin signed by all 100 members of the Senate. Senior White
House officials conveyed the letter to President Putin's delegation at
the February 24 Bratislava Summit.
Russian Government's Position
Russian officials have frequently referred to the Schneerson Library as
a national treasure, a part of Russia's cultural heritage. They cite
various laws and decrees as providing the basis for Russia to retain
the Schneerson Library, which they point out was created in Russia and
has always been in Russia.
Russian officials frequently maintain that divestiture of the
Schneerson Library would violate Russian law, and would also establish
a legal precedent for the return of other cultural property
nationalized in the wake of the Russian revolution.
The Russians made a political commitment to negotiate a resolution of
the final status of the Schneerson Library, but now maintain that they
are prepared only to discuss the use of the library and not its
transfer. Russian officials maintain that the establishment of the
Center for Oriental Literature and the refurbishment of a building to
house the Center show Russia's intention to provide the Schneerson
Library with a modern and appropriate facility.
Additionally, Russian officials maintain that Chabad has not fulfilled
responsibilities it assumed for appraising the value of the library and
insuring it, and for funding conservation and safekeeping measures
undertaken by the Russians.
Conclusion
In closing, I would note that this hearing will bring the Schneerson
Library and Archive to public attention, which we welcome. We hope that
the hearing will help both parties to realize the importance of
reaching a mutually acceptable solution. For Chabad, the Collection has
a strong and understandable religious value. Chabad members want to be
able to benefit from the teachings of their Rebbes. According to Chabad
leaders, having limited, periodic access to the Collection does not
serve that purpose. For Russia, the Collection bears witness to the
activities of a vibrant Jewish group for nearly two and one-half
centuries.
It is now up to both parties to identify their respective interests and
to seek an arrangement by which to further and protect those interests.
If these hearings help to accomplish that objective, they will have
done a service for us all.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Lubavitcher
By Matthew E. Berger
Chicago Jewish News
WASHINGTON-Pressure is mounting in the United States for the Russian
government to return a collection of books to the Chabad movement.
A month after all 100 U.S. senators urged Russian President Vladimir
Putin to release the "Schneerson Collection," a congressional committee
was slated to explore the collection's significance and the efforts to
bring it to the United States.
"It is time for the Helsinki Commission to stop writing letters and
have a hearing where the story can be told," said Sean Woo, chief of
staff of the Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights and
religious freedom around the world.
Even as U.S. lawmakers pay increasing attention to the issue, it is
also causing some disagreement between Lubavitch leaders in the United
States, who are pushing to have the books returned, and those in
Russia, who don't want to jeopardize their close relations with the
Kremlin.
There's obvious frustration among some Lubavitch leaders in the United
States, who have garnered near unanimous support from American
officials but have made only the slightest progress with the Russians.
The hope is that increased publicity about the case will pressure the
Putin government to release the collection.
"It is an opportunity to educate and to highlight this struggle and the
history of these books in a way that has not been approached as yet,"
said Rabbi Chanim Cunin, spokesman for the West Coast Chabad Lubavitch,
which is leading the effort.
Cunin's father, Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, was due to testify before the
Helsinki Commission, along with a broad panel that includes actor Jon
Voight, a Lubavitch supporter.
The Schneerson collection contains about 12,000 volumes seized from the
fifth Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, as part of a
crackdown on religion a few years after the Russian Revolution.
Thirty books were given to the Lubavitch movement in Russia in 2002
from the Russian State Library, formerly known as the Lenin Library,
where the collection has been held for the past 80 years.
There was hope at the time that more of the books would be released.
Despite assurances, however, the remaining volumes in the library have
not been released.
Last November, the Lubavitch movement in California filed suit in a
U.S. court against the Russian Federation, Russian Ministry of Culture
and Mass Communication, the Russian State Library and the Russian State
Military Archive.
A 1991 ruling by the Russian Supreme Court found that the collection
was Chabad property, but Russian officials contend that the books are
Russian property and will be taken overseas if they're given to Chabad.
Chabad leaders indeed want to bring the collection to New York, where
the books can be studied at Lubavitch headquarters. There was hope that
the Putin government would hand them over, but these hopes have waned
recently. As frustration has grown, the lobbying campaign has resumed.
The goal now is to retrieve the collection before Russia's celebration
in May of the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender in World War
II. Cunin said the collection includes personal tales that document
Soviet oppression of Schneerson and his followers, as well as Nazi
atrocities in Poland.
An official with the Russian Ministry of Culture said he wasn't aware
of any plan to have the Schneerson books transferred to the Lubavitch
movement in the United States.
"At present, this is not being discussed," said the official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity. "There is no Russian law that would make
such transfer legal. Should the government tell us to have the books
transferred, we will have to obey. But I doubt this will ever happen."
In September 2003 the Russian State Library opened a new Jewish book
room, partly to make it easier for readers to use books from the
Lubavitch collection.
Chabad-Lubavitch was outraged, saying Russia should not have opened the
collection to the public until the books had been returned to Jewish
control.
Lubavitch officials in Russia are divided over the issue.
Spearheading the effort to have the books returned to New York is Rabbi
Yitzhak Kogan, a Moscow representative of Agudas Chasidei
Chabad-Lubavitch of the Former Soviet Union. That group was appointed
by the last Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, with the
goal of freeing the books.
But some Lubavitch leaders in Russia say the issue is more nuanced. The
issue has put Rabbi Berel Lazar, the leading Chabad official in Russia
and one of the country's two chief rabbis- who is known for his good
ties to the Kremlin-in an awkward situation.
Reluctant to irritate the Kremlin, Lazar's Federation of Jewish
Communities in Russia advocated transferring the books not to the
United States but to the federation's main facility in Moscow-a
proposal that outraged the elder Cunin and his supporters.
A spokesman for the Federation of Jewish Communities said that the
question of justice in the case is not simple.
"The issue should be resolved in a lawful manner, in full accord with
Russian legislation," Boruch Gorin said. "And here is the main
question: What would be considered lawful in this situation?"
Some insist Russia had no legal grounds to hold the books because Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson simply left them for temporary storage at a
warehouse in Moscow when he left the Soviet Unioin decades ago.
These people argue that the collection was nationalized when Schneerson
was living abroad, along with other books from the warehouse.
"If that was so, then the books should be returned," Gorin said. But if
the books were nationalized and taken from their original owners, then
the issue should be resolved in a broader manner that deals with the
entire problem of de-nationalization of seized property, he said.
In post-Communist years, Russia failed to adopt comprehensive
legislation on the restitution of former private property, including
cultural assets.
Officials with the state library and the Ministry of Culture have
indicated that they would oppose an attempt to undo the nationalization
of cultural assets. Numerous holdings in Russian libraries and museums
were nationalized, and comprehensive legislation could lead to an
avalanche of claims.
The U.S. Senate first called unanimously for the collection to be
returned to Chabad in 1992, and successive American presidents raised
the issue with Russian leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.
President Bush reportedly raised the issue with Putin last month at a
summit in Bratislava, Slovakia. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice also said, during her confirmation hearings in January, that she
would "very much push" the Russian government to return the documents.
The issue has not garnered much attention among American Jewish groups,
however.