600-Year-Old Jewish Manuscript Displayed

It survived the Spanish Inquisition, the Bosnian war and the ravages of time. Now a 600-year-old Jewish manuscript, one of Bosnia’s most prized artifacts, is on public display.

Handwritten on calfskin, the 109-page Passover ritual text, or haggada, was a 14th century wedding present in Spain, which then had a thriving Jewish community. When Spain expelled its Jews in 1492, a refugee took the manuscript to Italy.

Eventually it ended up in Bosnia and was sold to Sarajevo’s National Museum.

During World War II, a Roman Catholic museum director and his Muslim colleague spirited the prized manuscript away from Nazis who wanted to confiscate it. In 1992, during the Bosnian war, a museum official braved Serbian sniper fire to rescue the text.

Now, through efforts of the United Nations Trust Fund, it is on permanent display in the National Museum alongside Orthodox Christian and Muslim manuscripts.

“That’s proof that, here, not only we can live together, but we used to live together for centuries and hope to continue to live together,” said Jakob Finci, head of Bosnia’s Jewish community.