Undeniable Proof: A Torah Scroll Fragment Used as Wrapping for a Nazi Officer's Certificate

This is a remarkable story about a 400-year-old Torah scroll fragment that, for over 60 years, served as the cover of a Nazi officer's certificate until, b'Hashem, it reached Jewish hands and found its resting place in Israel, in the faithful hands of Rabbi David Grossman, the Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek. How did it arrive there? Read its fascinating story.

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About six years ago, Moti Dotan, Head of the Lower Galilee Council and a second-generation Holocaust survivor, traveled to a ceremony marking 25 years of a twin city pact with the Hanover district in Germany. The event was conducted with all European formalities. The dignitaries arrived at an old castle, and while enjoying a cocktail that allowed everyone to chat pleasantly, Dotan received a thick envelope with the business card of a German parliament member, a second-generation Nazi officer, yemach shemo.    

Dotan with the scroll. Coming full circle

"Our council has a twin city agreement with the Hanover district in Germany," Dotan shares this week, "This is the oldest agreement in the country between a local authority here and one of the cities in Germany. Six years ago, they invited us to mark 25 years of the agreement. I led the delegation, and when we arrived, they held a very large ceremony in an ancient castle, attended by about 300 guests, including members of parliament from Germany and other dignitaries".

 "Like everyone around, I, too, spoke with the guests, mingling while waiting for the ceremony. Suddenly, a man approached me and handed me an envelope with a business card. As I was occupied with people shaking my hand, I didn't rush to open it and immediately put it in my pocket. I felt it was quite austere, and admittedly, I was intrigued, even though I thought it was a donation. At some point, I stepped aside, opened the envelope, and saw a Nazi officer's certificate wrapped in a Torah scroll fragment.

On the business card appeared the name of the German government parliament member - Detlev Herzog. Naturally, I wanted to find him, and when I found him among the people, I told him we must talk. He tried to defer me to another day, but I insisted it was extremely important. I clearly remember our conversation. We went outside, and I pressured him to reveal the origin of the item. He was worried the ceremony would begin, but I reassured him that I was the guest of honor, and it wouldn't start without me".

Sefer Devarim, Parshat Tochacha 

"In a conversation that lasted half an hour, he told me that a few months before the event, his father died after being ill for two years. The son used to visit him once a month, and a few weeks before his death, his father told him that he had heard about the pact with an authority in Israel, and wanted to share a secret he had kept hidden for 60 years".

The former Nazi officer began his chilling confession: "You should know that everything they said was done to the Jews is true. It's important to know that I participated in it. I was a pilot, and at the end of the war, after our air force was destroyed, we were incorporated into the infantry forces with the task of eradicating any sign of the Jewish people. I was sent to Lithuania. Where we saw a synagogue or a Jewish home, we destroyed and eradicated. When we arrived at a synagogue, we burnt it, and as we stood outside, it started to rain, and I feared for my officer's certificate, lest it be ruined by the water. I remembered that the holy Jewish scripture was of good quality, so I ran inside, cut a piece, and wrapped my officer's certificate. Now, give this to the Jews with whom you have relations".

Nazi officer's certificate

When Dotan heard the story, he was in shock: "I gathered the members of the delegation and showed them the scroll taken from Sefer Devarim, Chapter 20, Parshat Tochacha, with the text: 'and distress that your enemy will impose on you'. And I wondered if this was a coincidence? How could it be that out of the whole Torah that was burnt, he took exactly this section?"

"After I arrived in Israel, the first thing I did was go to my father, a Holocaust survivor himself, and tell him about the encounter. Following this incident, my father, who is 93, and had spoken little about his Holocaust experiences, began to narrate, and three years ago we published a book describing his childhood. It was definitely a full circle, as my father began speaking after the revelation of the officer's certificate".

In the next stage, Dotan decided to deliver the scroll to Yad Vashem, but a phone call from Rabbi David Grossman, Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, changed the picture. "Rabbi Grossman heard about the scroll and requested to see it," Dotan recalls, "When he saw the scroll, he began to cry. The Rabbi asked for me to leave it as evidence for the creation of a museum for children murdered in the Holocaust, which I did, while they made a copy that remains true to the original for me. To this day, this certificate is kept close to me, it's in my car, and every time I tell the story of the Parshat Tochacha, people are shocked".

Before Holocaust Remembrance Day, Dotan lectures students, telling the scroll's story as a testament to the perpetuity of the Jewish people, and as a counter to Holocaust deniers. "Examining the letters proves that the Torah scroll burnt is over 400 years old," says Dotan, "My father told me something amazing: 'There are no nations that have the foundation of the Jewish people, whose eternal Torah, the very same Torah given at Mount Sinai, was written exactly 400 years ago".

Dotan concludes: "This is undeniable proof to all Holocaust deniers, and it's important to remember that the Torah of Israel is the same Torah from thousands of years ago, whose essence is love between individuals. If we uphold this, calamities shall not befall us".