Jewish artifacts looted by Nazis return to Berlin, thanks to Arizona synagogue

Two Jewish ritual textiles looted by Nazis during Kristallnacht in 1938 were returned to Berlin on October 22, 2026, by Temple Chai in Phoenix, Arizona. The items—a Torah sash and a Torah ark curtain—were purchased in postwar Germany by Holocaust survivor Moishe Saksenhaus using Crisco, coffee, and cigarettes. The artifacts were handed over to Berlin Jewish Community president Gideon Joffe at the New Synagogue Berlin-Centrum Judaicum.

Two Jewish ritual textiles looted by Nazis during Kristallnacht in 1938 have been returned to Berlin, thanks to an Arizona synagogue. The items—a Torah sash (wimple) and a Torah ark curtain (parochet)—were purchased in postwar Germany by Holocaust survivor Moishe Saksenhaus, who traded Crisco, coffee, and cigarettes for them. The seller claimed to have stolen them from a burning Berlin synagogue on November 9, 1938. Saksenhaus brought the artifacts to the United States, and after his death in 1993, his family donated them to Temple Chai in Phoenix, Arizona. They remained on display there until the building was deconsecrated in 2026. On October 22, 2026, Associate Rabbi Bonnie Koppell of Temple Chai handed the items over to Berlin Jewish Community president Gideon Joffe at the New Synagogue Berlin-Centrum Judaicum. The ceremony was attended by 29 visitors from Arizona. The parochet is embroidered with the Kiddush text, and the wimple bears a blessing for a child. The Berlin Jewish community plans to add the parochet to its collection and display the wimple at the community center.