Book seized by Nazis returned

A 17th century book seized by the Nazis has been returned to Rome’s Jewish community, one of thousands of Jewish volumes taken by looting German forces during World War II.

The pocket-size religious book, published in Amsterdam in 1680, belonged to the library of the Rabbinic College of Rome. Most of the library’s books were returned by the Americans in 1946, but some are still missing. This one was turned over by a Dutch scholar who received it from a German family, according to the Italian commission seeking recovery of the Jewish bibliographic heritage.

The book, described as being in good condition, was presented to Rome’s chief rabbi on Monday.