Poland Returns 91 Nazi-Looted Jewish Artifacts to Greece

Poland returned 91 Jewish religious artifacts to Greece on Wednesday in a ceremony in Warsaw, bringing home sacred objects that Nazi Germany looted from Greek synagogues during World War II.

The return marks the first time Poland has handed back cultural property held under its care to another country following a restitution request. Many of the artifacts come from Jewish communities that were almost entirely destroyed during the Holocaust.

The collection includes synagogue textiles and decorative objects used with Torah scrolls. Among them are 17 pairs of rimonim, silver finials placed on the wooden rollers of Torah scrolls, as well as nine additional rimonim or fragments. The collection also contains 46 fabrics and one pair of pendants used in synagogue rituals.

The artifacts were seized in 1941 after Nazi Germany occupied Greece. The looting was carried out by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, a Nazi unit responsible for confiscating Jewish cultural and religious property across occupied Europe. Many of the items were taken from synagogues in Thessaloniki and other Greek Jewish communities.

After the war, the collection was discovered in southwestern Poland, where the Nazis had stored looted cultural property. In 1951 and 1952, the Polish Ministry of Culture transferred the artifacts to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw where they remained for decades.

The restitution process began in 2024 when the Greek government formally requested the return of the collection. The effort involved cooperation between the Polish and Greek culture ministries, the Jewish Historical Institute, and the World Jewish Restitution Organization.

Speaking at Wednesday’s ceremony, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the artifacts represent an important part of Greek Jewish heritage. “These items, which were removed from synagogues throughout Greece during the Second World War, are today on their way back to their homeland,” she said. “They not only have historical and artistic value; they are part of the living memory of my country and of the Jewish Greeks.”

Polish Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska said the return also carries deep meaning for Poland, which lost vast amounts of cultural heritage during the war.“For Poland, a country deprived of its statehood for over 100 years and then severely impacted by the atrocities of World War Two, the restitution of cultural property is a special issue,” she said.

Before World War II, roughly 75,000 Jews lived in Greece. In 1943, the Nazis began deporting Jews to extermination camps, mainly Auschwitz and Treblinka. By the end of the war, between 82% and 90% of Greece’s Jewish population had been murdered.

The returned artifacts will now be transferred to the Jewish Museum of Greece in Athens, where they will help preserve the history and traditions of Greek Jewish communities. In a statement, the World Jewish Restitution Organization said the return could mark progress in broader Holocaust-era restitution efforts. “While Poland has broader restitution issues to address, we hope this historic act marks the beginning of a consistent, systematic approach to historical justice,” the organization said.