Little over eight months after it disappeared, a valuable collection of Judaica stolen from the Budapest Jewish Museum has been returned.
With tight security measures in place, the treasures were returned late Wednesday evening from Romania, where they were found in late June.
The collection, valued at some $200 million, consists of more than 180 pieces collected since 1916, including gold and silver religious objects, paintings and carpets.
Two suspects in the case, Romanian citizens identified as Emilian Stefan and Nicolae Chirita, were arrested in Vienna and Frankfurt, respectively, and Hungarian authorities are currently seeking their extradition.
Local reports indicate there may have been additional people involved in the robbery.
According to Hungary’s police chief, Gen. Ion Pitulescu, the Mossad, Israel’s secret service, helped Hungarian and Romanian police track down the collection.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
