Jewish family renews fight for Passover manuscript
JERUSALEM — The grandchildren of a prominent Jewish victim of the Nazis are renewing their fight for title to the world’s oldest illustrated Passover manuscript, hoping newly-unearthed documents will boost their claim to a prized jewel of Israel’s leading museum.
Last year, the descendants of German Jewish lawmaker Ludwig Marum requested the Israel Museum pay compensation for the famed Bird’s Head Haggadah, a medieval copy of the text read around Jewish dinner tables on the Passover holiday.
They say the Haggadah was snatched from their grandfather’s family after he was rounded up by the Nazis and later sold to the predecessor of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem without their consent.
One of the grandsons, 75-year-old Eli Barzilai, said he met with the museum last May and has corresponded with it since.