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The owners of the scroll were among those who fled the Novogrudok Ghetto, where approximately 10,000 residents were murdered during the Holocaust.
By Shula Rosen
A rare 18th-century Torah scroll fragment hidden by a Jewish family from the Nazis in a Belarusian attic has been discovered, with experts from the National Library of Belarus determining it dates to the second half of the 1700s, Ynet reported.
The fragment was found in the attic of a house in Belarus, where it had been concealed for decades, reportedly stored under straw by members of a Jewish family who fled the Novogrudok Ghetto during the Nazi occupation.
The discovery highlights efforts by Jews in Eastern Europe to preserve religious items during the Holocaust.
Specialists identified the parchment as a handmade fragment likely written by a sofer stam, a traditional Jewish scribe responsible for producing Torah scrolls and other sacred texts.
The fragment features a distinctive reddish hue in its ink, a characteristic noted by experts examining the piece.
The family believed to have hidden the scroll may have had the name Katz, though details about their identity remain limited.
They were among those who fled the Novogrudok Ghetto, where approximately 10,000 residents were murdered during the Holocaust, leaving only about 350 survivors.
The scroll fragment remained concealed in the attic for decades following World War II, preserving it from destruction.
Its survival reflects broader patterns of concealment of Jewish religious and cultural items during the Nazi era, when communities sought to safeguard sacred objects amid widespread persecution.
Experts at the National Library of Belarus confirmed the fragment’s age and origin through analysis of its materials and writing style, placing it in the second half of the 18th century.
The discovery adds to a body of similar finds across Eastern Europe, where Jewish families hid religious artifacts to protect them from confiscation or destruction during the Holocaust.
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