Talmud Bavli – Munich, 1948 – First Post-Holocaust Printing of the Talmud for War Survivors

Talmud Bavli – Munich, 1948 – First Post-Holocaust Printing of the Talmud for War Survivors

Talmud Bavli – complete set. Munich-Heidelberg, 1948. "Published by the Union of Rabbis in the American Occupation Zone in Germany".

After World War II, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few available copies. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the debased German land; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a concentration camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They almost destroyed me on Earth, but I did not forsake Your precepts" (Psalms 119).

19 volumes. Approx. 39 cm. Several volumes printed on dry paper. Overall good condition. Stains. Tears, including tear to title page of Tractate Pesachim. Title page of Tractate Rosh Hashanah missing. New leather bindings (uniform).