Seventeen torah scrolls valued at more than $100,000 were stolen recently from the synagogue in the eastern Hungarian town of Debrecen.
The theft of the 17th century scrolls was not discovered until several days after it occurred, local sources said, because the Debrecen Synagogue remains closed for the winter.
Hungarian police officials are investigating the case, but no suspects have yet been found.
Gusztav Zoltai, executive director of the Hungarian Jewish community, said in an interview that he believed the burglary was not an anti-Semitic act, but a case of theft-for- money.
In December 1993, a collection of Judaica valued at some $200 million was stolen from the Budapest Jewish Museum.
Two suspects in the case, both of them Romanian citizens, were arrested in Vienna and Frankfurt last August.
The stolen treasures are now on exhibit in Budapest’s Jewish community headquarters building, located next to the Tabac St. Central Synagogue at the entrance to the former Budapest Ghetto.
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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.
