A Special Reunion

On August 22, 1942 Eduard and Ernestine Leiter, along with seven other Jewish families were deported from Oberndorf, Germany to the Theriesenstadt Concentration camp. After their arrival at the camp, the Leiters were sent to Treblinka, where they eventually died. Their precious few belongings they left behind were never claimed by them.

One of the items they left behind was a family Bible from 1874. It remained untouched until 1990 when it was discovered by a family during renovations of the home and in 2017 it was sold to German art historian Gerhard Roese, who put it on display in a synagogue in Oberndorf, which was several hundred feet from where the Leiters lived. Later he contacted the United States Holocaust Museum, asking them to find the descendants of the Leiters and return the Bible to them.

The museum discovered the descendants living in New York, Susi Kasper Leiter and her grandson, Jacob. “Twenty-eight members of my own family tragically did not survive the Holocaust. So when we were notified about the finding and survival of this Bible, I realized that miracles can happen. It is a new connection for my children and grandchildren, to the Leiter family whose name they bear. I am overwhelmed by emotions and memories, and at the same time so grateful to witness this.”

She summarizes the impact of this gift, “There are no words to describe the goodness, patience, and caring of the wonderful people involved in Germany to make sure that the Bible was returned to its rightful owners.”

It seems a fitting conclusion to this story is simply, Welcome Home!

(Source: The Times of Israel)