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The Survivors' Talmud
May 23 - Summer 2001

As a key part of one of the most compelling stories to emerge from the annals of World War II, a complete set of what has become known as the "Survivors' Talmud" will be on display at the Museum through the summer of 2001. The Chrysler is the first venue of the exhibit's national tour.

In 1946 the U.S. Army in Germany received a request from a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors living in a Displaced Persons camp in Munich. The group asked the Army to arrange for the publication of the Babylonian Talmud, a collection of ancient Rabbinic writings that constitute the basis of religious authority in Orthodox Judaism. Under the command of General Joseph McNarney, the Army made an unprecedented decision to print approximately 100 sets of the 19-volume work. With the Jewish refugees having been deprived of homes, and with few surviving religious objects from which to gain strength, the Army's generous response emerges as a most dramatic and extraordinary gesture of empathy and understanding.

The Survivors' Talmud exhibit is comprised of an original set acquired by a group of local philanthropists in memory of Leonard Strelitz. The exhibit which represents a unique collaboration between the Chrysler, the U.S. Army, the Jewish Historical Society in New York, as it illuminates an unsung bond between heroes and survivors.

For More Information or Images Please Contact the Chrysler at (757) 664-6200 or museum@chrysler.org

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