After 75 Years: A Torah Scroll Hidden Under a Sofa is Returned to Israel

Lost and Found: A Torah scroll held by a Polish family was returned to Israel this week after 75 years. To understand how the scroll came into the hands of the Polish family, we need to go back in time, to the eve of World War II. During those days, a Jewish family living in the village of Filipów in northern Poland decided to entrust the scroll to their neighbors, understanding they were about to be sent to extermination camps and were concerned about the fate of the holy scroll. This week, the scroll was discovered at the home of the couple, the Wróblewski family, during a random visit by Polish students who are locating fragments of gravestones taken from Jewish cemeteries.

The scroll was half torn. The Torah scroll returned to Israel Photo: Johnny Daniels

A few days ago, students from the University of Warsaw visited the couple, now in their late 70s. The students asked them if they knew about the existence of Jewish gravestones in the area. The present were surprised when suddenly, Kazimierz Wróblewski revealed the treasure he had – a Torah scroll wrapped in brown paper, stored under the sofa in the living room.

Wróblewski told the students about the scroll's history and how it came into his possession. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the couple, unaware of the scroll's sacredness, had used it for house cleaning and even as a foot mat.  

The initiative to find gravestone fragments is led by the "From the Depths" organization, dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its victims. "The Jewish family living near the Wróblewski family asked them to keep the Torah scroll until they returned to retrieve it," said Johnny Daniels, CEO of the organization, to nrg. "They also added that if they could not return to collect the scroll, they asked the Wróblewski family to give it to another Jew who would keep it in the future."  

Did not know it was a sacred book

He further noted that the couple was quite surprised to see the respect he attributed to the find in their possession. "They did not understand the meaning of a Torah scroll for the Jewish people and how sacred it is to us," he added.  

The couple agreed to hand the scroll over to Daniels and also requested that they be sent a piece of earth from the land of Israel. Indeed, a few days later, the scroll was returned to Israel. Daniels noted that the discovery might lead to the location of more scrolls.

"Following the 'Matzeva' project we started and this story of the ancient Torah scroll we discovered, we have received many more inquiries from Poles about Torah scrolls hidden in various places in the country, and we intend to reach all of them."